Fated Encounter
by Ikoter
Summary: The foretelling of how the Dragonborn met Hikari, a young, lovely, charismatic girl who loves exploration. They soon bond together, create a relationship and begin adventuring through Skyrim on various quests. NSFW. (Hikari is a follower made by SkyrimGTX)
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE:**

 **PART ONE:**

'Where am I going…'

The Dragonborn walked casually through the subterranean tunnels of the ancient Dwemer ruin, in search of an Elder Scroll.

'Of all the places for it to be in… It couldn't be in someone's library! No, it had to be part of yet another deadly descent into the unknown!'

Even though trouble waited for him down there, the Dovahkiin was armed to the teeth. A thick protective shell of dragon bones encased his entire body. A brown furry timber cloak covered his back. There was an even furrier part to his cloak surrounding the neck, but white in color.

Were the man to be blistered by freezing wind, he had that warm and trusty animal pelt to cover himself with. But he first and foremost had his true Nord blood as a primary line of defense against the cold.

'Much of these ruins look the same... Am I even headed in the right direction?' The Dragonborn thought to himself as he continued down the hallways and corridors.

His eyes took in the fact that ice covered the walls almost entirely. It was proof that the Dwemer, though powerful beyond thought and intelligent as if blessed by the gods, could still not surpass the threshold of nature.

Maybe they were not meant to... The Nord stopped in place as he rounded a corner. Thankfully, he had been silent enough to not alert the one up ahead.

A good fifteen meters in front of him stood a woman, facing away from the Dovahkiin. She looked down at three corpses, two of which were Falmer. The third was a Dwemer automaton, the type which could curl into a ball, or rise up and fire deadly bolts at intruders.

The Dragonborn had quickly hid behind the corner whence he came from. His eyes crossed the threshold to inspect her.

She looked human, even Nordic, as revealed by the nature of her skin.

She was relatively average sized. Long black hair covered the entirety of her back, down until the waists. Her body was encased in armor of the same color.

There was something rather disturbing and unnatural about the shape of her protective means: her spiked pauldrons. They reminded the Dragonborn too much of the Daedra and how they shaped their war gear.

Shoulder pads aside, another disturbing factor showed itself: the chest plate of the woman willingly thinned itself around the waist area, leaving much of the lower body's unthinkable exposed.

The Dovahkiin didn't like it.

It was not that he, as a man, wasn't attracted to that woman. Everything would have been fine if it weren't for one very important thing about her: chances were that she was Daedra kind.

And that was exactly the problem.

The Dragonborn did not want to befriend and love a She-Dremora, for such acts always ended up in the death of mortal kind. Not to mention that they themselves were sadistic whores that enjoyed the pain of his kin.

She moved her right hand, which due to the ice only now came into view, to reveal a severely large scythe. Like the rest of her equipment, the weapon was black in color. Its handle was two meters long with a blade half in length.

This jolted the Dovahkiin's instincts back in place as he recognized danger.

The chances of her being a She-Daedra had reached ninety nine percent. Such exotic weaponry was always the craft of Dremora.

The last one percent was attributed to the possibility of her actually finding all of that equipment somewhere and claiming it as her own. Fat chance though.

She holstered the weapon on a wrap around her shoulders and exhaled heavily and audibly.

It appeared she thought her fight was over...

 **PART TWO:**

The Dragonborn jumped out of his corned into plain sight. The collision of his feet with the ground alerted the woman, who responded by turning around and unsheathing her weapon rapidly.

He too grasped onto his blade, a two handed great sword made of dragon bones and held it pointed at her.

Her full visage came into view: the beauty of a priceless jewel was what rested upon her shoulders. Young, vigorous, full of life... But saddened, as if burdened by something.

'Such a pretty face. Might make me regret having to break it.' She looked too young to be a called a woman. She seemed more like a girl that had yet to reach maturity.

Were she human, she would have made for an amazing wife… That was just the thing: She-Daedra's were made specifically to be sympathized with. Their supernaturally good looks was mere sheep's clothing for the hungry wolf.

Her armor was made out of ebony. The chest plating covered the abdomen fully, however, it allowed stark view of the upper half of her massive breasts. Now the Dovahkiin knew for certain he would regret killing her.

Her leggings, while not connected to the chest piece, encased her lower half in thick black armor, giving the impression a blade would simply bounce off when hit.

Her arm gloves weren't connected with the rest of her vestments either, but the five or so spikes that emerged from them gave the gauntlets a fierce look.

The two took a moment to analyze the situation: he showed up after her and she was blocking his advance. The quest to find the Elder Scroll and learn Dragonrend had one more unexpected assailant halting its completion.

Not that the Dragonborn actually knew how many stood in his way in the first place...

At that point, it was clear that both of them were combat veterans. A novice would have long since charged blindly into combat, without even bothering to analyze his or her foe.

That was no mere man who stood before her and that was no mere woman that blocked his advance.

Bones… Troll bones? Mammoth? Bear? Can't be... Must be something bigger...

Daedric armor and a scythe, a weapon he was never before faced with. Getting past it could have proven tricky and difficult if her skill in using it was any good.

'Standing around to think won't get me through her.' He was the one to charge.

The girl was taken by surprise when she saw her adversary's speed, covering fifteen meters in merely three seconds. Her mind gave her time only to raise the scythe so as to catch his falling blade.

His strength was incredible.

The girl was trembling under pressure, and was sure she'd end up on the ground in a second or two if she did not act swiftly.

Countering brute force with technique, the She-Dremora used surprisingly little dexterity to make his weapon slide downwards by tilting her own. She then directed her scythe so as to use its rear end and thrusted it directly towards the Dragonborn's head.

Thankfully, she missed his eye, as that was clearly her intended target. Instead, she hit the Nord's forehead in his attempt to dodge her attack. The result was that his helmet ended up tossed backwards and left his face revealed.

He was a man in his early twenties, similar to her. They shared the same hair color, though his hair was noticeably shorter than her's. His only reached until the shoulders whilst her's touched the lower body half.

The man's face bore remnants of a beard on it. There were claw marks up and down the left side of his face, some painted with ink, others gained in battle.

This 'admiration' lasted for but a second as the Dovahkiin swiftly bent low and slid his right leg across the ice covered ground to collide with both hers. As result, the girl got knocked flat on her back.

The warrior quickly got up and thrusted his blade directly at her neck, but stopped before actually harming it. She was once more surprised by his speed. The Nord's left foot stood firmly pressed on the scythe and it left her defenseless.

She gulped at the prospect of having been defeated. In that moment, he could have ended her blasphemous existence.

Her death...

... Not meant to be that day.

The Dovahkiin stepped off of her weapon and backed away. He had went to pick up his helmet, which laid on the ice covered ground three meters away.

The girl got up as the man placed his head wear back on. She had not attacked, but instead stood speechless.

Her stunned expression disappeared as soon as her eyes took in the fact that her adversary had not yet finished the fight. The Dragonborn once more adopted a fighting stance that included pointing his sword at her.

'Round two.'

This time, it was her who charged the three meter gap between the two, almost as if wanting to learn from him. But her speed was vastly inferior, like her strength.

The overhead swing she pulled was unfocused.

With a powerful step in, the Nord blocked and guided the scythe to his left, leaving his opponent momentarily vulnerable. The large weapon shattered and scattered some of the ice covered ground.

The Dovahkiin's weapon pressed down the scythe. He effortlessly slid it across the black handle on a trajectory towards the girl's neck...

The girl slid several meters across the ice and fell on her back due to the impact of that hit.

The attack did not pierce her skin... It surprised the Dragonborn and solidified the foundation of 'she is Daedra kind' tremendously.

Any mortal would have had his or her head lobbed off by that attack. To this girl, it only caused light injury below her chin.

A tiny bit of skin in the shape of a line was blown off her neck at the point of impact, but blood had not started to flow out yet.

Her skin was tough. Big deal. The attack the Dovahkiin launched was merely a friendly tap.

As he long ago discovered, he had enough force to splinter small boulders in half with one single swing, but he always ended up with a broken blade after wards.

The girl quickly returned to her feet. Her right hand brought the scythe in combat position whilst the left grasped at the neck. She could still feel the impact of his attack upon her.

She did not want to die. She was certain this man could end her right there and then, but she did not want to die.

That was what she felt in that very moment: a combination of fear and anxiety. Her survival instincts screamed at her to run.

But she had not the time to do so as her opponent fiercely took one step, one single fucking step, and closed in the distance between the two.

Her only reaction proved to be mindless as the scythe was swung horizontally. This was a thoughtless action because the Dragonborn had already entered the 'safe zone' of her weapon.

The Nord's left hand grasped the scythe mid section of the hilt, effectively neutralizing the possibility of being hit. He then lifted the hand in which he held his blade...

... But the hit never landed.

The Dovahkiin had only now noticed something: fear.

Upon having seen the attack coming, the girl closed her eyes, tensed her face and prepared for the hit to land. In other words, she shivered.

Shivered? Daedra kind did not feel fear! Especially not from mortals!

So that meant... It seemed as that one percent hit true.

She was no She-Dremora, nor one such invention.

A Daedra was powerful, agile, ruthless to the point even the Dragonborn felt fear facing them.

She was none of that. Her eyes did not have that 'glint' in them that the rest of the Dremora or any of their servants did. Not to mention her skin. This was all a big misunderstanding.

Having felt like a fool, the Dovahkiin rammed himself into her with force. The girl had been knocked off her feet and down onto the ground once more. Her scythe fell out of her grasp.

A slight purple injury was visible on the upper left half of her visage.

The Dragonborn had spared her the fate of death.

One question was raised however: 'How come I did not cleave her head right off her shoulders earlier?'

The only answer to come to mind was that her armor was enchanted with powerful magic so as to bolster her protection drastically. Could have been. It could have also been that her vestments were warded to wear off the freezing cold of the Dwemer ruin.

The Nord sheathed his blade. The fight was over. She had better have been thankful she had not died there.

With surprising kindness, the Nord removed his brown timber cloak and placed it on the ground, facing up. He then took hold of the girl and placed her on the cloak.

The Dovahkiin then covered her fully with like it were a sleeping bag.

 **PART THREE:**

The Dragonborn had made his way through icy tunnels and found the actual Dwemer ruins. Its guardians still roamed the halls, as he had discovered on other such expeditions, thus, he knew what to expect.

Mechanical inventions which crawled like spiders, shot lightning through soul gems, folded into spherical shapes and came out to fire crossbow bolts at him.

He knew exactly how to deal with all of them. As the Dovahkiin charged at the Dwemer sphere, its metallic figure rose up just in time for the bone great sword to slice through its lifeless pieces with brutal force.

The warrior moved fast in the small room in which he was. He impaled Dwemer spiders right after dispatching the sphere drones.

His battle prowess was truly that of a master. No less than seven guardians fell in such a short time span. The adrenaline rush filled him with heat, so much so that he began sweating. Perhaps the Dwemer inventions that pumped endlessly also contributed to the temperature of the room and the state of affairs.

At least it wasn't as cold as in the tunnels. The Dovahkiin moved forward, opened doors, plundered chests, found more corridors on his way.

Jewelry, enchanted equipment, they all fetched a high price on the market.

And with the Nord's expertize, he could have squeezed out quite a bit of extra coin from every merchant. Especially from the female vendors, with his charms and all.

That was how the Dragonborn earned reputation and power.

He raided bandit encampments, fortresses long abandoned, ancient ruins of lost civilizations and claimed their treasures for himself. Both his combat prowess and his wealth were more than visible at that point. And yet he still looted most of what he set his eyes upon…

Old habits died hard. But so too did the stubborn machinery of the Dwemer.

The Dovahkiin woke up to the bolt that hit his back side. Though, his armor was too thick and resilient for the projectile to have actually dealt any worthwhile damage.

He returned with a fury and swung his blade, but managed only to cleave air without actually hitting anything. That was quite an achievement in its own.

The two Dwemer spheres a few meters away simply looked at him. They most probably noticed the ineffectiveness of their bolts.

The warrior charged. In one single motion he ended their pathetic lack of life.

That zone was now cleared.

The Dragonborn moved onto the next: a dangerous looking round staircase that lead further down into the expected unknown. He could not see an end to how deep the staircase went, only that a part of it fell and blocked continuation further down.

'I'll just have to hope the Elder Scroll is on that level over there.' Falmer could also be spotted along the way.

It was an easy task to kill a Falmer. It was a near impossible feat to sneak past them, as, due to their loss of sight, the dungeon dwellers had developed really keen and acute senses.

The Dragonborn could have tried sneaking, but a person wearing that much heavy armor was just bound to produce a lot of noise. The underground vermin would have recognize him as an intruder.

The fastest solution at the time was to just run straight alongside the staircase, kill any enemies along the way, jump down to the last accessible floor since the rest were far beyond reach, and open the door way that hopefully lead him to where he needed to go.

 **PART FOUR:**

After the long descent, the Dragonborn arrived at yet another mind boggling room. On the floor laid broken Falmer corpses, accompanied by their bug pets, Chauruses. The overgrown maggots that made a stupid habit of spitting at any one intruder finally got what they deserved: a painful death.

They were crushed as if stomped by something big, like a giant. But there were giants in Falmer infested Dwemer ruins. Maybe someone came before him and took the time to out straight flatten the Chaurus's with a hammer...

Behind all of the broken corpses and gore, there was an archway made of stone. Clearly that was through where the Dovahkiin had to proceed.

There was a loud noise that went like 'psshhtt'.

'What the heck was that?' The sound seemed to have come from up front. Before he proceeded onwards however, the Dovahkiin turned around just to look behind.

Above the door he just passed through was a staircase that lead up to what seemed to be... Giant Dwemer crossbows? And a lever.

The Nord climbed the stone stairs and pulled the lever. He discovered spikes had emerged from the ground up front, where the archway lied, so as to close the portcullis.

'Oh, so that's what it does.' He pulled the lever back to open the path.

The Dragonborn took a minute longer to search through the two chests behind the contraption. One of them was sealed tight and required the usage of a lock pick.

'Easy enough.' Some skills he... Gathered... Along his way.

After having finished looting, the Dovahkiin proceeded through the archway and up some more stairs, but stopped, mostly because he was stunned.

Giants did live down there…

If it could be have been called that… The thing was made of Dwemer metal for sure. It was… It was even taller than a giant! The steam that pushed out of its shoulders was clearly the source of the noise from earlier.

A few feet away from the Dwemer giant laid another metallic machine, the same size and probably form, as the first one.

'Thankfully I won't have to face the both of them.' The Dovahkiin drew his weapon with utmost silence.

'Ching.' The weapon rang a small noise from its sheathe.

The giant's responded to the noise by turning its upper half one hundred and eighty degrees towards the source of the sound. Its unanimate face now took in the fact there was an intruder in its perimeter.

"Shit..." The Nord fully unsheathed his blade and stood ready to fight.

Funny how it did not notice him walking earlier...

The Centurion's lower half turned its legs so as to align with the rest of its body. The giant's right hand was a hammer, it's left, an axe. It towered over the man in front of it by at least three meters.

But that didn't scare the Nord. He faced dragons and giants before, what was so special about this one? That it was made of metal?

The golden construct took a step forward, then another and another until it arrived within striking range of its target, looking down upon the Nord. It was quite clear by that point that that thing was what had squashed the Chauruses down below.

The giant raised its right hand faster than humanly possible and slammed it down on the Dragonborn's position. Its actions were more than predicted, as the Nord already had a plan of action.

The Dovahkiin jumped out of the way of the blow and rushed behind it. He hit its left knee cap. The blow caused the behemoth of steel to fall forward in a kneeling stance. Its weight shook the ground.

The machine returned its left axe hand with vengeance, scored a hit on the Dovahkiin's helmet and sent him flying around seven meters away.

He hit a stone wall harshly as proven by the fact that the impact caused his knees to buckle and the warrior to gush out crimson bodily fluids through his mouth.

'Bloody Oblivion...' His left hand wiped away what red substance coursed freely from the Nord's pie hole.

The next second, the Dragonborn noticed his helmet had started crumbling. It fell to the stone cold floor in pieces.

After having confirmed that the intruder still drew breath, the Centurion approached, this in turn caused the Dovahkiin to rise up. When the distance between the two was of three meters, the steel giant stopped in place, leaned in closer to the man, and started blasting compressed steam through its shoulder pads.

The wave of vim was hot and very invasive to the warrior of bone. Clearly, the Dwemer automaton intended to cook him alive.

But the Nord had other plans.

"Zok! Na Kaal!" Once the Dragonborn shouted... It all turned to stone...

The steam fell heavy as it became small particles of dust like material. The golden surface of the Centurion was not covered, but completely replaced with stone, much like its internal workings.

The behemoth of steel stopped...

 **PART FIVE:**

"Should have done that from the start." The Centurion lay unmoved.

The Dovahkiin dusted his fur cape. He then bent low, picked up the pieces of his broken helmet and pocketed them in a pouch, where most of his other findings such as gold and jewelry were located.

After having returned his attention to the Dwemer automaton that now lay motionless, the warrior of flesh and bone approached it. He stood staring at its unanimate face for about a minute, until he had had enough of seeing it.

The Nord once more moved behind the thing. He raised his left foot and kicked at the knee of the construction with all his might, causing it to break apart.

The rest of it followed suite. Its main body crumbled to the ground and splintered into twenty or more tiny pieces. Golden metal was still visible in small proportions amongst the scattered mess, indicating that the shout had not encompassed the construct's interior designs very well.

But what did he care? The way forward was now clear, devoid of any obstacles.

Due to having heard a noise, the Dragonborn rapidly turned his attention towards the entrance; the staircase which led up to the floor on which he had a fight.

And there she stood... Fearful of any outcome.

The Nord turned to meet the one whose presence there was only barely anticipated.

The girl stiffened up when she saw the man who'd defeated her moments ago and gulped. She no doubt noticed the rubble of the Centurion and understood that it was his doing.

The girl silently gasped when the Dovahkiin took a step towards her.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was calm. It indicated no danger nor ill will.

The Nord's attention drew towards his fur cape, wrapped around the girl's shoulders and body, providing her warmth.

She must have figured out that that was what he was looking at and began to take it off with the intent of returning it to him.

But the Dovahkiin raised a hand and stopped her. "Keep it." She surely was cold as well.

The girl stopped upon hearing his words, almost confused. He wished... Well of her?

Without even having said a word, the Dragonborn turned towards the exit and started walking away.

"AB!" She yelped more audibly now and extended a hand towards him.

The sound of it stopped the man, who sighed before turning his head around.

A moment of looking at her innocent and fearful expression spawned curiosity out of the Dragonborn: "Do you wish to come with me?"

After a second of taking the question in, her face visibly lit up with joy and she energetically shook her head up and down. He smiled at that hilarious form of innocence and resumed his walk.

She quickly got in line with him.

One unknown factor filled the Dovahkiin's mind however: what was she doing down there in the first place?

She couldn't have been after the Elder Scroll, could she? No, that would have been impossible. Septimus couldn't have just told another soul about the location of the Kel.

Was she a pillager? A bandit? A thief? ... Or just an adventurer?

The warrior of flesh and bone disliked having to kill. He could put up with attacking the lifeless Dwemer automatons; the Dragons which threatened villages and ran rampant throughout Skyrim; the Giants and Vampires who intentionally caused harm; the natural predators of the wilds; the bandits and thieves whom made a living taking others property.

The Nord even felt righteous when he killed the wretched and vile Daedra.

However, he attempted to avoid having to kill innocents at every possible turn, be they sons or daughters of Men, of Elves, of Orcs...


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO:**

 **PART ONE:**

After having found yet another Dwemer machinery and having inserted the attunement sphere given by Septimus, the two adventurers were capable of making their way down several more stairs.

The two looked in amazement. They were very, very deep below the earth. That was an awfully long descent.

They were now in a gigantic underground city, or the ruins of one. The walls of that place were black, as many small diamonds or other things of that nature, embedded into the ceiling, sparkled like the night sky and lid up some of the surroundings.

There were gigantic glowing mushrooms decorating the place like trees in a forest. There was even a waterfall... Many Dwemer buildings came into view scattered about everywhere. They were to be searched though soon enough.

The Dovahkiin had heard of the place he was in and recognized it as Blackreach.

As he'd made a habit of, the warrior snapped out of his trance to take in the surroundings and all possible threats. Several Dwemer spheres had made themselves visible several meters forward.

'Of course, there's got to be residents here too.' One of them quickly aimed their crossbow and shot at the girl. It was a good thing the Dragonborn saw it coming, for he pushed her shoulder so as to get her head out of the way of danger.

She too snapped out of her amazed state and looked at the enemies that lay ahead. Her hand went instinctively to her weapon. She was slow, as proven by the fact that the Dovahkiin already jumped into action and engaged the spheres.

Those ones proved superior to the automatons up above, for they had the capacity and intent to avoid his blade whilst shooting bolts that ricocheted off his armor.

Few of them succeeded though and whatever projectiles they shot bounced harmlessly off the Dragonborn's armor.

The girl watched him fight. It was one thing to face him and another thing entirely to sit back and enjoy his masterful expertise. She was quite lucky to have been shown mercy...

This was the savagery which he had not display when the two fought. It left the girl to believe that he was much more than she initially anticipated.

Three Falmer made themselves visible on the right side of the battle field. She took it upon herself to cover the Dragonborn's back and charged at the subterranean vermin.

Of course, she had no idea that her companion was such an important person.

One of the Falmer had a bow. It was quickly pointed in the direction of the girl as soon as her killing intent was felt approaching.

She hopped sideways as soon as she saw that the arrow loosed from the bow. That was an easy task. When she got into range of the first opponent, her scythe had the pleasure of cleaving right through the first Falmer with little effort, cutting the foe in half.

The second adversary stepped in as she was pulling back and swung its short sword over head at the girl, who foresaw the attack coming and ha raised her weapon to block the attack. The archer readied another projectile as the girl kicked the second Falmer away.

Its attack never launched however, because the girl's scythe already reached and cleaved the pitiful creature's head off its shoulders. The third Falmer 'creaked' a noise and began fleeing.

There... It was done. She stood a moment to catch her breath, then looked at her companion. The Dragonborn had long since finished his fight with the Dwemer inventions, and was staring right back at her, absorbing all of her figures, forms and fighting style profoundly.

It was good to have been given the chance to witness her do battle.

'She covered my back. Might actually turn out to be trustworthy.' He turned around and continued his path. The girl followed him.

The environment was lid up by radiant flowers as Nirnroots stretched across the landscape. It was a beautiful scenery as proven by the fact that the girl enjoyed gazing endlessly at all the small but pretty things here.

He didn't bother rushing through Blackreach, mostly because the Dragonborn could not remember the last time he had such a delightful walk with a beauty of this caliber. He wanted to enjoy it.

That and the fact that mannerism just didn't permit him to rush a sure to be gentle lady like that one was.

The Dovahkiin's adventures never seemed as alive as they were that very moment. Having a cute face with him sure made things more pleasant.

If only there weren't several more Falmer and Chauruses ahead for them to deal with…

 **PART TWO:**

They had decided to stop wandering about endlessly through that underground metropolis and head directly for what the Dragonborn came there for. He had yet to tell the girl about the Elder Scroll.

Following a surprisingly convenient placed stone road, the two made their way to what could have been the room of studies.

'Hopefully it's here. I don't want to go back into that maze.'

Ascending up some stairs, around a large spherical Dwemer invention, the two reached a sort of control mechanism.

Five buttons were aligned; to the right was a holder. The Dragonborn placed the Lexicon into it, this in turn allowed the two closest buttons to it to unlock.

The machinery was clearly a tool used for analyzing objects of various interests. Of course, the possibility that the machine existed only for the purpose of studying the Kel was also a thing.

The invention was composed of several lenses hanging from the ceiling and one large blob of crystal in the middle of them all. The girl took a seat whilst the Dragonborn figured out what to do.

He began pressing buttons, which in turn caused the metallic arms to move and twist, either encasing the blob with more crystal lenses, or just backing off.

After a series of confusing decision, the container finally came down and opened itself for the world to see. The two adventurers moved closer to inspect the contents within. It was a white canister, and, most likely the purpose of the Dovahkiin journey there to begin with.

The Nord made sure to take the Runed Lexicon back, and kept in mind to bring it to Septimus at a later date. For, only with the help of that old hermit did the two find the Kel in that very moment.

"What is that?" That was the first time she spoke without fear in her voice. She was instead fascinated by the object within the Dragonborn's hands.

"It is a Kel. An Elder Scroll."

"A Scroll?" She took it into her own and gazed upon it more closely.

"Yes. Don't tamper with it. There is just too much everybody doesn't know about these things." Almost hesitantly, she handed back his Scroll.

A batch of Dwemer spheres suddenly erupted from pipes along the walls.

The Dragonborn quickly pocketed the Kel, unsheathed his weapon and silently cursed at the turn of events.

In fact, it was his own damn fault for not realizing that one just could not leave something that could literally tear the universe apart unguarded.

'Of course there'd be sentries...' The battle commenced.

 **PART THREE:**

The Dragonborn sat outside the ruins of Alfland and wondered.

They had attained the Elder Scroll, the Kel, as Paarthunax called it. All that was left was to return to the Throat of the World and learn Dragonrend so as to defeat Alduin.

Even whilst pondering such important quests, the Dovahkiin looked upon the girl, sleeping a few feet away under a Saber cat pelt.

After the two had surfaced from the underground dwelling via a golden elevator, they had discovered that night already settled upon Skyrim.

The Dragonborn decided to quickly scavenge some wood and pelts from the nearby ravaged shacks and rebuild the one they were in that very moment.

The fighting after all, had tired them.

It was chilly within, but at least the wind didn't blow. His timber fur cloak was placed on the icy ground as makeshift bed for the girl whilst the Saber cat pelt covered her. Neither took of their armor, as they were atop a frozen mountain with no heat source.

A fire could not be started in the shack, as there was not enough firewood, and to prevent a potential flaming death. The Kel had been hidden underneath the Nord's sleeping spot, beneath a few layers of snow.

If they were to be pillaged in the night and if neither of them was to wake up, the Scroll was at least well hidden. But if they were to be murdered in their sleep, it also meant that the Kel would have been lost eternally under the layers of ice, for, nobody knew it was there except him...

But the girl... Why was she there? She couldn't have been more than twenty. Why did she risk her youth exploring deathly tombs in the middle of nowhere?

Was she like him? An unfortunate soul who suffered a great loss at some tragic time? She clearly didn't take extreme pleasure in hacking the life out of her foes. The lust for blood was not the cause.

Then what was motivating her? Didn't she have a family who worried for her? Or perhaps it was her family that caused her to go out in search of treasure to maintain them... Where did she live, anyway?

'What is her name, even?'

 **PART FOUR:**

The Dragonborn walked casually through the streets of Whiterun. Four days had passed since he and the girl parted ways, and two days since he learned Dragonrend and had his bout with Alduin at the 'Time Wound'.

Unfortunately, the World-Eater managed to escape. Paarthunax had informed the Dovahkiin of Alduin's retreat to Sovngarde, where the cursed dragon was no doubt going to regain his strength and obtain new power. Their next battle was going to be that much tougher.

'Sovngarde… It really exists…' Perhaps from the beginning, the Nord should not have been so skeptical about the presence of his paradise. He should have in fact been the first to start believing in it the moment he discovered his Dov powers.

The Dragonborn was in the market of Whiterun. His walk came to a stop when a familiar face came into view.

It was the girl. She and him happened upon one another in an unexpected place.

His timber fur cape covered her back from prying eyes, proof that she still had it. The man already crafted himself a replacement of the same materials.

"H-Hello." She opened up with slim amounts of surprise.

"Hi." His look was stern and strong, almost infuriated.

But the Dovahkiin sighed his frustration away before the girl was over run with anxiety.

"Say, what are you doing in Whiterun?" Her eyes flared up to meet his.

"I live here."

"Ah."

"In the temple of Kynareth to be precise." So she could be open and talkative to strangers too... And the sound of her voice was like a clear blessing, cleaning up the storm that brewed up inside his head.

The girl remembered about his fur cape. "A-Are you sure you don't want this back?"

"I am. I've already got another one, see?"

"Ah... Well… What brings you to Whiterun?" He sighed once more.

"I'm the one who's got to deal with the dragons." Her eyes widened at the sound of it.

"You can... Kill dragons?" Perhaps it should not have been as big of a surprising as it sounded, considering that she had the opportunity to witness him turn a giant Dwemer invention to stone.

It would have been troublesome if that girl still had the same mentality of a child who needed to see things in order to believe them.

"Isn't my armor proof enough?" She looked at it from top to bottom, but still didn't believe it one hundred percent.

"So what are you doing in Whiterun?"

"I frequently come here to sell valuables. Armors, weapons, jewels. All kinds of things. After I'm done here, would you care to accompany me again?"

"Where to?"

"Wherever I am pointed to by the Jarl's steward. He is rather good at setting me in the general direction of troublesome bandits or Giants to take care of and earn coin."

"Okay but only if we split the profit half ways."

"Sounds good to me."

The two made their way up through the Cloud District and into Dragonsreach. She chose to wait at the doors whilst the Dragonborn went up to the Jarl, to hear some unsavory talk.

The girl waited for five minutes before she saw him approach once more.

"Any success?"

"Yes…"

"What? Something unpleasant?"

They exited the building and made their way to the stables while holding their conversation. Along the path, she stopped by in the market to buy several apples.

"Bleak Falls Barrow has been occupied by bandits, again. We need to clear it out."

"Money in exchange for their life?" She said with a mouthful of apples.

"It would appear so. Say, why don't I know your name yet?"

"Just because-" She swallowed the apples. "-it's a secret."

"Hah!"

 **PART FIVE:**

The two adventurers were at the stables. The Dovahkiin's horse was covered in Dragon bone armor that made it a matching combination with its master.

The Nord mounted it, shortly followed by the girl. They then set on their journey to Bleak Falls Barrow.

It was wondrous how the horse managed to lift its own armor and its two passengers.

Like... Like how many kilograms must that have been?

"Say, Hikari, what do you think of Whiterun?" After small amounts of pestering in Whiterun, the girl shared her name.

"I am thinking of leaving it behind."

"Hm? Why?"

"The city is kind of getting old. I lived in the temple of Kynareth my entire life, but it's starting to lose its flavor really fast. I like visiting other places. It's why I'm an adventurer. Also, apples. If you'll ever bother giving me a present, make it be apples."

She was very damn specific in her wishes. The man couldn't imagine how her parents maintained her.

"And where would you go should you leave?"

"Hmm... How about Dawnstar? Or Falkreath?"

"Those aren't bad choices, though, there are better places such as Solitude or-"

"Solitude might end up as a war zone. I'd rather not."

"I'd wager it has some of the best defenses in Skyrim and some of the most soldiers at its doorstep. The war won't get anywhere near it."

"Speaking of which, do you participate in the civil war?"

"What? There are dragons up and about in Skyrim. And you think I'll waste time fighting a war? No, I don't take part in it."

"Oh…"

"Was there a point to your question?"

"… I hate Stormcloaks."

"Is there a motive behind your dislike?"

"I'll tell you one of my reasons: they attacked Whiterun."

"Yes well, they failed to take it."

"Only because I stopped them."

"With your skill and wit, I don't doubt you succeeded."

"It angers me that those useless guards just stood there and watched me fight the battle on my own! Aren't they supposed to be men?!"

Having considered her looks and the probable pleasure she took slicing at Stormcloacks with that scythe… The guards might have been scared shitless. They might have even went so as to think Hikari was some sort of Daedra.

It seemed as though the girl viewed men as strong and courageous. Someone who didn't make her list earned her hatred.

That being said, the Dovahkiin had to wonder what she thought of him. She clearly didn't hate him, so the possibility of building a relationship was still quite high.

"And that useless Jarl! Why did he refuse to let the Imperial's garrison in his city?"

"I see… Say, want me to sing you a song in the Dragon tongue? Maybe it'll help you calm down."

"Wh- The dragons have a language? And you speak it?"

"Yes, I learned it from the Greybeards when I was up on High Hrothgar."

"Those old hermits still exist?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't they?"

"How old are they? A few centuries old?"

"I'll be honest, they do look that old. I'm surprised they can still move about just fine."

"Hmm…" She had honed in the fact that he went to High Hrothgar.

And that he said he was the one supposed to take care of dragons.

Hikari took a moment to let the thought sink in.

"Wait, YOU'RE the Dragonborn?"


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE:**

 **PART ONE:**

The two dismounted the horse when they arrived at their destination. They were now at Bleak Falls Barrow. More specifically, at the snowy stairs that lead up to the main entrance of the Barrow.

Several bandits wearing fur vestments spotted them and begun letting arrows loose.

"You're not afraid of a dusty old tomb now are you?" The Nord asked her whilst arrows whizzed by them with great degree of concern.

"Not when I have the Dragonborn with me."

"I tend to keep those I consider friends alive."

One of the bandits gathered courage, took up sword and shield, then charged at the Dovahkiin. He intended to slash overhead, but his attack never launched as his opponent rammed himself at the bandit, knocking the poor sod down.

A great sword slash shortly followed the downed man, painting snow and stone red.

Hikari had had the privilege of chopping an archer's head off, while the third bandit ran inside, probably to warn the others.

A second to mourn the stray soul of the bandit had been given by the Dovahkiin.

"What are you doing?" Hikari had asked confused.

"I am of the opinion that all mortal life matters. It is very unfortunate that this poor sod ended up an outlaw."

"Did... Your parents do the same?" Only after asking did she realise that she might have stepped on a spike.

"No." His voice was subtle, revealed only by the deathly silence of the situation. "One escaped, but no matter." He spoke of the bandits that guarded the Barrow's entrance.

"Are we going in now?"

"Yes, but we should be wary of traps or ambushes." He took up the iron shield of the bandit who was stupid enough to attempt melee with the Dragonborn. "Stay here until I call you." Said whilst pointing at the girl.

"Alright." The Dovahkiin entered through the open stone doors with his guard up.

So far, no one got the jump on him. No bandits, no traps; the place was rather empty and devoid of life.

It seemed they didn't have the time to set the place up right. "It's clear!" She approached as he tossed the shield away.

"Where are they?"

"Further inside. Let's go!" He began sprinting through at a pace which Hikari could follow.

Three Nords, a Bosmer and an Orsimer were taken by surprise as the Dragonborn plunged with his shoulder pad through a wooden door and into one of the Nords, squashing a large part of him on the wall.

"Y-You bastard!" The other two of his kind charged, mace and sword up high.

The Dovahkiin raised his blade, blocked the first assailant's weapon and shoved him to the wall. Dodging the second bandit, the warrior kicked him in the opposite direction while moving to impale the Nord whom he first shoved onto the wall.

Quickly after, the third Nord had his head chopped off by a huge scythe, leaving the Wood Elf and the Orc stunned.

The Elf had destruction spells in both hands but began doubting his ability. However, the Orc was prepared.

A portcullis of iron blocked continuation further into the Barrow.

The two remaining bandits backed away against it, regretting the fact that the lever to opening the gateway was on the far side of the room, behind the assailants.

However, there was one other lever near the portcullis. The Orsimer pulled it.

The Dovahkiin was expecting the gate behind them to open for them to continue fleeing.

He was wrong.

The next second, poison darts began raining down upon the adventurers from up above.

"Get down!" The Nord shouted for Hikari to duck, but she had not reacted fast enough...

Three poison darts hit the girl's chest, right below the Clavicle bone structure.

She fell to her knees and hands, her vision was blurry.

"Shit." Her friend swore upon seeing her stature.

With a quick draw maneuver, the Dragonborn launched his great sword at the Elf, resulting in impalement and instant death.

The Orc was stunned.

The Dovahkiin raised up and charged the Orsimer, who mindlessly raised his axe to block.

The Nord pushed with such force that he went through both his target and the iron portcullis, opening the passageway and killing the bandit in the process.

He then returned to the girl... It was a very good thing that the darts had not hit her head.

One question was raised very highly however: why was it that when the Dovahkiin hit the girl's throat with his sword, he only caused a slight bruise, and when some shitty old darts hit, they made her fall over unconscious?

One possible answer could have been: the darts were imbued with magic as well as poison.

'N... No, that can't be it...' He decided to prioritize saving the girl instead of figuring out what made her fall in the first place.

Blood droplets fell to the stone floor.

In her state of pain, as the poison burned through the flesh surrounding the arrow wound, Hikari felt her head falling...

… Into the Dragonborn's palm as he caught and turned the girl around so as not to press on the projectiles. She was unconscious.

The Dovahkiin carefully removed the poisonous tips, as her flesh kept on corroding, and grasped into his potions pouch to take out an antidote, which he then fed to Hikari.

Whatever good that did, it did. Thankfully, he always carried such vital assets with himself should the need ever arise.

That was a special potion he concocted in the laboratory of his home.

After he placed the girl's head back down, the Dragonborn gathered magicka into the palm of his right hand that manifested itself a light. He channeled a healing spell over the wounded flesh.

That proved an effective method. Her injuries closed up, her squirming stopped. But...

Why wasn't she waking up? Did she need more time? Was she somehow tired?

Something felt wrong to say the best. It was quite peculiar, and quite strange, that she had not yet regained consciousness after all that.

The poison on the darts was most certainly more than a few centuries old and as a result, were most definitely not be as effective as they once were. As such, the healing spell he casted and the antidote he gave her should have neutralized the effects by now.

Maybe the bandits prioritized refreshing the traps with some recently made corrosive acid instead of setting up traps.

Checking her breathing, the Dragonborn discovered it had slowed down significantly. This alerted him because it meant that a small amount of the acid made it to her lung.

His level of restoration spells healed mostly outside wounds, they never really reached deep inside. But there was a gossip among priests that even barely skilled healers, if casting for long enough, could heal even the worst wounds with basic level magic.

The Dragonborn had to try it.

Before that, he rummaged through his potions pouch and surfaced a red bottle that was meant to boost health regeneration. He fed this potion to the girl.

The Nord then brought out several mana potions and lined them up for himself. He continued casting...

 **PART TWO:**

Light came into view as Hikari's eyes slowly slid open. The girl had been asleep for what seemed like a decade. She felt… Older. The thing she experienced when she opened her eyes had left its mark upon the girl.

Her body laid down on the stone cold floor as she stood gazing at it… Was… Was she dead? Had she become a spirit bound to eternally wander through the un-life like the Draugr? Or was she something more?

All traces of color in the world seem to have vanished as if time itself stopped. Hikari couldn't contain herself and let loose raindrops upon the floor. She had shed tears. Not many could resist the thought that they were dead.

'Why do I cry? It was bound to happen at some point…'

"That is true."

Hikari had looked up. Through her tear soaked eyes, she saw what could have been a mere light bubble. That was... If it hadn't talked.

"Who-"

"-am I?" The girl had closed her eyes and brushed her tears away. "What do you want me to be?"

"Something nice, like, an apple…"

"I could be that. But how about you?"

"What?"

"What could you be?"

"A dead person."

"You aren't dead yet."

"Yeah… I'd wish…"

"It can be done if you want it strongly enough." Her eyes opened to once more be set upon that with which she had a conversation with. "Do you want to continue living?"

"Of course I do! Who in their right mind would want to die?!" She had shouted that one out abruptly.

"Then reveal onto me your purpose. The Dragonborn over there-" In that frozen world, the Dovahkiin stood as rigid as a statue, the girl noticed. "-does not wish you to die. Do YOU wish to die? Or to live?"

"Who… Who are you?"

"You would not believe it even if I told you."

The girl jolted her head up, finally awake from the dream like sequence. She was back… She was… alive! That was proven true as the walls once more had color.

"Oh! Hikari!" Happiness surged through the Dragonborn at the sight of her waking. "I'm glad you woke up!"

Almost as if to reward him, the girl had silently approached, wrapped an arm around his neck and complemented his cheek with her own.

 **PART THREE:**

"Wait! Was that really Akatosh? Really?!"

The Dovahkiin walked hastily through the Barrow as the girl followed a few steps behind, still pestering the man about whom it was she talked with.

As the orb of light had said, she would not believe it even if she was told who or what it was. And the Dragonborn had told her, a choice he now regretted...

"Really? Was that him? Akatosh himself?"

"I see why my lord has chosen not to directly reveal himself to you."

"What are you implying?"

"Exactly what you're thinking."

"E- You jerk!" He honestly couldn't give a crap about that at the moment and she could not believe she hugged him a minute ago.

She had bumped into him due to his sudden stop. The Dovahkiin stood stunned.

"Hey! Why did you stop so suddenly?! Answer me!" He could not. There was something…

She raised on her toes to try and look over his shoulder for the corridor of stairs leading there was blocked by the warrior, standing as rigid as stone.

What she saw could only be described in the most nightmarish dreams.

Something evil. Vile. Abominable.

Before them waited a skeleton. Not your average walking bones, no. This one was dead. What was truly frightening was not the body, but the massacre surrounding it.

These bones bore traces of its former flesh having been mutilated. Blood was spread all over the place, on the fire braziers, the shelves, the urns, the walls and most importantly, the floor.

Why this was horrible, besides the gruesome act in itself, the Dragonborn knew. He stepped forward, with the intent on examining the horrid masterpiece.

The girl stood still, frozen. Never had she had the privilege of witnessing such fine artwork. She dropped to her knees and barfed out a large portion of her innards, making her head hurt.

The sight was too much for Hikari to handle.

The Dovahkiin bent low to check the blood stains. They were fresh. There was also a burn mark on the floor, in the shape of a circle, which then contained an eight headed star inside.

This victim must have been a Dunmer. It took a Dark Elf for that kind of thing. As seen, all of his or her blood was spilled everywhere and then some.

It had been performed a ritual upon…

 **PART FOUR:**

The Dragonborn got up. He headed towards the girl in a hurry, picked her arm and pulled her up.

"We're leaving, now!"

"No…" Hikari had said full of disgust and sore in her mouth. The very sight before the girl was enough to make her faint. Almost.

To puke, she already had.

But the Dovahkiin would not stop just because of her state. What kept him still was how the path behind them seemingly collapsed, caving in.

"DID YOU THINK I WOULD LET YOU LEAVE?" The room shaked with a foul voice. "WE FINALLY GET TO MEET EACH OTHER AFTER SUCH A LONG TIME, AND YOU WANT TO GO?"

The Dragonborn quickly unsheathed his great sword and let go of Hikari, as he was most likely the target that the resinous voice spoke to. The girl stumbled back down, still sick.

"Stay put." He told her as the voice which previously shaked the room had laughed.

The eight headed star of blood brimmed to life with color, revealing from within its parameter that five individuals rose up to attention. All of them bore skin color of the darkest nature, like their armor.

Spikes were visible at the top of their heads as red tattoos on their faces clearly stated the race these beings belonged to. The wretched Daedra…

In the middle of them all stood their leader, a sight which horrified the Dragonborn.

Ever since the return of the dragons, the Dovahkiin had slain beasts of size and might that made entire armies flee like worthless insects.

But this Daedra… No. He refused to believe it.

"Gilligan?!"

"It has been a while."

"I lobbed off your head!" The Dremoras left hand went to its neck, asserting the still clear cut marks. Despite all that, the flesh was sealed back in place and in functioning state.

"MMMmmm, yes! It was quite a feeling." His hand grasped onto his neck more firmly, almost as if gutting himself.

The Dovahkiin managed to move his rigid legs into a charge, starting it with a battle cry, and ending it in a swing.

With blinding speeds, the four other Dremora jumped at the Dragonborn, landing blows with their weapons so as to trap him in between them.

He was immobilized. The four held him in such a perfect grapple that the warrior couldn't move.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! You rush to give me more enjoyable wounds? Or are you trying to suicide?" Gilligan caressed his neck wound.

"How did you survive?!" His only reply came in the form of another laughter.

Gilligan was the madman of Daedric creations. There existed tales among the plains of Oblivion that as soon as he was forged, this fierce Dremora turned upon his maker, Molag Bal, and nearly killed the Lord of Domination.

Such a ruthless and crazed being he was…

As the tales went, Gilligan got shackled, and then remade into a much more inferior being than prior to his creation.

Even so this Dremora was an astounding piece of work. Savage. Cunning. Powerful. Made to kill other beings of godly levels.

All of that information came to the Dragonborn in the form of whispers and hearings, when he had been trapped in the planes of Oblivion…

 **PART FIVE:**

The Dremora commander turned his back and walked away, putting on display a wicked laughter; all to vanish into thin air. The Daedra guards jumped back, preparing to fight.

When they were surrounding the warrior, all they could do was hold him still. They could not attack by any means whatsoever.

This situation was bad for the Dragonborn: he was flanked on all sides. His enemies were soldiers of the highest quality available, armed with swords, axes and hammers.

If these were highway bandits, they would be long dead. But these were Dremoras; powerful and skilled foes. It was said that from the moment of creation, a Daedra can lift a weapon and take a life.

What was more, they fed on souls. They enjoyed suffering on a daily basis and have a nick for causing chaos.

When the plane of Mundus was created, the Aedra, today called Divines, gave a part of themselves to aid in its creation and make it whole. But there were those who refused.

These beings that refused became known as the Daedra - 'not our ancestors'.

It was often ironical how, despite them hating the wold of Mundus and not contributing in its creation at all, that they got so involved in mortal affairs all the time.

In the Dovahkiin's opinion, the Dremora did contribute to the creation of Mundus. All the sickness and the evil that men do to either the land or each other was because of Daedra.

Anyway, that was what the Dragonborn thought of with quite a bit of vengeful hatred as his sword broke through a war hammer, held in position to intercept his blade, cutting into the Daedra like he was mere wood.

The thought of how much those tyrannical beings enjoyed themselves at the expense of mortals fueled the warrior enough to break through Oblivion ebony steel.

Suddenly, the Dovahkiin was bombarded with blows from behind by another Dremora, who wielded two axes to inflict as much suffering unto his foe as possible, but failed.

He had merely cut down the warriors timber fur cape, revealing a backside covered in thick bones that offer an unparalleled level of protection.

With wrath and fury, the man turned around, swinging horizontally as he had done many more times in the past.

Luckily the Daedra survived by dodging. This Nord's hatred and killing intent fully revealed in that one swing. It was so powerful that it might have even broken through a solid boulder of stone…

The three backed away, holding their weapons at the ready. Counting the corpse, the four Daedra were no match for this warrior, they could tell.

The Dragonborn was the kind of Nord whom specialised in exterminating vermin like them. He… He suddenly looked to his right, at his companion, and saw her in the hands of Gilligan.

Or rather, she stood on the floor, only her head slightly lifted up so that the Dremora lord could get a better view of her unconscious face.

"Hikari!" He started to rush straight at herm but the three remaining Daedras jumped once more and caged the man similarly to how they had do previously.

But not that time: The Dovahkiin had broken free of their hold, for they were missing their fourth chain member, and rushed at their commander.

The landing of his blow was met only by the stone carved walls of the Barrow as the Daedra and the girl vanished in an instant.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

 **PART ONE:**

'Damn it!' The Dragonborn cursed silently after Hikari got kidnapped, all the while staring at the wall.

He would have gotten angry, but had to maintain his calm. A situation like that required careful thinking, not to flail angrily like a troll.

The girl could have been taken anywhere. Hopefully she was only taken further within the Barrow. And NOT to the planes of Oblivion.

If so, that meant only one of two things: that Gilligan wanted to make the Dovahkiin into a rescuer by having him charge into a trap, or that he was going to torture Hikari and do unspeakable things to her.

Actually, possibly both scenarios were in play.

Neither of these situations were good. But, his current priority should have been dispatching the three Daedra really quick. Then he could begin searching for the girl.

Turning around, his foes awaited. Why they hadn't tried attacking him while he had their back turned to them… Could have probably been explained by the previous attempt to do so, which for the record, ended in a failure.

A dense plate of bones covered every inch of the Dovahkiin's body. This fact troubled the Daedras because for them, there was truly no such thing as finding a bone which they could not break apart. Bare handedly even!

One of them used both his axes earlier, and their weapons were much better at maiming others than their fists, yet they did no damage! No damage!

This was what kept the three still. They finally met an unmovable object…

 **PART TWO:**

The girl woke up. Hikari's eyes took in stone and grass, but the subterranean kind.

The arms instinctively moved to support her as she tried getting up, yet found that the lower half of her body was not responding.

It simply did not want to listen to the girl. Hikari's gaze went from the floor to the black sarcophagus before her, to see a pair of feet.

There was a woman sitting on the coffin. She was hard to identify really, even if her face was in clear view, looking down at Hikari.

This woman, she… It was very hard for oneself to take their eyes off of her. The unnatural skin color, an open orange towards pink, left questioned her intentions. Several red tattoos marked her neck, arms, abdomen and legs.

Her feet, from above the knees and heading down, became a fading shade of black running in a shape to indicate abnormal feet form. Ankles covered with red.

She most certainly did not wear shoes, but her feet did not need any as they looked like a pair of claws. But not like that of a Hagraven.

Her hands were similar, except colored in a much livelier orange, the kind that was akin to extremely heated up metal. The edges set her hands apart from the mere color white. Sharp ends at her fingers.

Her body looked very similar to a regular woman's body, but… Designed so as to incite as much of men's lust as possible. Her proportions seemed unreal…

Her head was adorned with two horns erupting from the sides of her face, leading up and out of harm's way... But her aspect!

It was like the clear blessing of a crystal diamond! Such unnatural beauty was superior to even the most wildest of fantasies! But… Saddened… As if burdened by something.

Her eyes were of two colors. Yellow on the outside and purple within. Both of which peered at Hikari, who in return, peered at them.

"Greetings." Her tone… A calm one. "How are you feeling?"

This was… Weird. Despite being unable to identify the race she even belonged to, those words of comfort were truly unexpected.

"I-I'm fine, I think."

"Good." The woman raised her right hand, small magical circles appearing near her fingers as they were pointed at the girl. "I have unshackled your legs."

"What…" Hikari had regained control over her full body and rose to her feet.

She looked at the woman with a glimmer of curiosity and innocence in her eyes.

"Who…"

"Call me Elianna. And you?"

"I am Hikari." The woman's head suddenly thrown back by laughter at the purity and naivety with which Hikari responded. Though not evilly.

"W-What?"

"You girl… You are yet untouched." Her head leaned in. "Haven't you figured it out? Haven't rather odd and inexplicable things happened in your life?"

"Well… No, I… don't know what you're referring to."

"You see… You are one of us."

 **PART THREE:**

The Dovahkiin rushed through the corridors of Bleak Falls Barrow. His previous opponents laid in a pool of blood, with a great number of broken bones and shattered limbs. They could not impede the Nord any longer.

'Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where is she?! Where could Gilligan have taken her?'

No traps, nor waking Draugr could touch the warrior as he sprinted through the hallways at top speed. His concern for the girl was too great to stop for anything else.

He then reached the corridor leading to the puzzling stone door.

'Damn it! I left the Golden Claw back home!' There was no visible way of opening the door.

Whomever closed it must have been aware of how ancient Nordic puzzle workings functioned. The Dovahkiin threw an angry punch at its iron making, but to no avail.

'I don't have time to circle back home to pick up the claw. Nor am I guaranteed to find Hikari even if I open this door!' He opted for option number two.

"Feim! Zii Gron!" The man's entire appearance changed to that of a ghost, his intention clear.

But the Dragonborn had not the time to cross through the threshold of the door, for his shoulder was grabbed firmly.

GRABBED?

The warrior turned head to see a most unwelcome sight: "Gilligan?" Had not wasted a single moment and threw the Nord several meters away from the door.

When the Dovahkiin landed on the stone floor, his immaterial form dissipated. The man was back to being flesh and bone once more.

He had gotten up rather angered and drew his sword. The Nord charged the Dremora lord, his blow landing perfectly on the foe's head, but before it cut into flesh, a resonating light was produced from the impact point.

Closing his eyes so as to not be blinded, the Dragonborn found himself suddenly falling. He was no longer in the Barrow. He was instead extremely high above ground, approaching terrain very quickly…

 **PART FOUR:**

Hikari stood gazing at Elianna. Her mouth slightly open, almost wishing to catch a fly. There were countless words flowing through her mind at that time, but none reached her mouth to be voiced.

"Are you done gawking?" The girl had tried to respond, but failed. "Shall I sate your curiosity a bit? We are Succubi. We are the female inhabitants of the Daedric planes of Oblivion, created by lord Molag Bal some centuries ago."

The girl's head seemed to indicate a disagreement, but was still lacking enough information to actually hold an argument.

She only responded with: "Tell me more."

"Oh? Very well. We are those who have the purpose of satisfying our lord's lust and that of every Daedra who points a meat stick at us." Hikari almost got sick at the sound of that. "Sometimes our kind travel to the world of mortals, to copulate with others. Doing so drains them of life force and sends them back to our realm of Oblivion. There, our Daedra masters torture them for the remainder of their life. It's quite the sick job if you ask me."

The girl was once more quite speechless. To think that she herself was one such instrument… She could not accept it.

"Sometimes, it just so happens to be that the men we pick have a very rare magical affiliation within them and won't die immediately after fornicating with our kin. The seed of these special men can grant us the burden of bearing new life. The children who result from such activity are neither Dremora nor mortals, but something in between. The rules of our race don't apply to these Halflings. I suspect you are one such creation. Rejoice, for you have the opportunity to enjoy a man for more than one round."

She could not possibly be happy and cheerful after such horrid information was revealed to her. She was one such abomination?!

"Lord Gilligan told me you traveled to this tomb with an old acquaintance of my liege's. Shall I ask my lord to spare enough flesh and bones of him for you to enjoy?" That assumed that she was going to be taken back to their realm and turned into one of these sex slaves.

"I- U… N-No, wait-" Hikari could almost feel a spike of pain in her chest." Driving her hand just above the stomach, she closed her eyes and tried to look deep within herself.

Elliana stepped off the coffin and walked behind the girl, without her noticing. She then brushed aside some hair for a tattoo to come into view.

And it was not just any kind of marking, but an eight headed star one placed in the middle of her back. It was utterly and completely white in color and nature.

"Ah hah. You are quite pure indeed."

 **PART FIVE:**

Holding his hands so as to protect his face, the Dragonborn had not noticed when he stopped.

"Wake up!" After being snapped back to reality, the only course of action left was to crash land to the ground from one meter altitude.

The collision left him breathless for a second. Whilst he regained his vitality, Gilligan had taken a few steps back.

The Dremora lord raised his arms so as to show the scenery behind himself: "Welcome! To Oblivion!"

The sight had instilled fear unto the Dovahkiin, for now his eyes gazed upon that which they never hoped to see ever again.

Scorched earth, pits of lava, black iron spikes, the shrieking of countless suffering slaves… It all came together to form the one thing he had never wished to revisit.

"Korr Khaal! Home!"

That was the plane of Oblivion that went by the name of 'Korr Khaal', one of the most wretched and vile realms of suffering.

The screaming of mortals could be heard all around. Be it the cause of countless beatings, of repeated deaths, or merely the satisfaction of lust upon them.

Blood flowed like a river alongside lava. The two melded and formed into one single stream of Daedric steel, continuously mined by tortured souls and forged into ebony weapons and armor.

There were four Black Towers in the distance, spiked cages hanged around them. They held husks of once living people, dried and left out for the blow of wind to carry around their yet putrid stench.

All of that suffering… It killed the Dovahkiin just to look at it all once more.

"Are you that afraid of home? YOU BELONG HERE!" His voice went into a maddening shout as the Dremora's body became larger.

Gilligan had increased his size to at least twice his initial stature. This woke up the Dragonborn and forced him back to reality. He had prepared for the coming of Gilligan by getting up on his feet and grasping firmly onto his weapon, whatever good that was going to do…

There appeared a steel whip in Gilligan's right hand, one that looked more like the unification of the ends of a multitude of swords rather than a proper whip.

The Dremora lord raised this weapon and hit the ground with it, causing the Nord to be thrown on his back and the earth at his feet to splinter.

"Come on, where is your vigor?!"

The Dovahkiin had gotten back up and once more prepared for combat. But his back shivered with fear. It was unstable.

The raising of the Daedra's hand and inevitably whip, once more put the warrior on heels and spikes to avoid the thing coming down on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

 **PART ONE:**

"What's the matter?!" Gilligan voiced as the Dragonborn continuously dodged from side to side.

'This isn't good. I can't get anywhere near him.' The spiky steel whip was tricky to deal with, and given that it was swung from above made things even more complicated.

The Nord's warrior senses told him that, based upon the force with which the whip was swung and the devastation it left in its wake, a simultaneous exchange of blows would have been impossible to survive.

Upon having found confrontation impossible, the mortal man decided his best odds of survival were escape. The Dragonborn turned tail and fled, like a coward.

But the Dremora lord wasn't going to allow it to happen. Gilligan raised his left hand and summoned a great wall of lava to impede the Nord's way.

"There will be no retreat." The Daedra then extended the lava behind himself and closed its edges to make it into an arena for the two of them.

It then expanded wide for the fighting grounds to not be so limited.

Direct confrontation was really hard in that situation, but what other option was there? To run away meant to delay the inevitable. It was much better to solve a problem when it came up rather than allow it to pester one further.

'Wait… Say, I somehow make it past his weapon, will my blade even pierce his armor?'

It was not like standing around answered any questions. The Dovahkiin mustered his strength to face Gilligan. He dropped into a fighting stance, sword pointed at his foe, and charged with all haste.

Seeing this development, Gilligan smirked, raised his whip and brought it down upon the charging mortal, only to see him dodge to the side and proceed with his advance.

He dived straight ahead, intent on impaling the Daedra lord.

The sword made contact with the ebony armor and broke in half...

Its wielder stood rather stunned at the unfortunate turn of events which befell him.

Gilligan however, was not quite dazed by this, and used his left hand to pick up the warrior by the scruff of his neck.

"Did you think such a puny blade of bone would suffice?"

With half the original blade, the Nord attempted attempted to stab his aggressor's hand. Not a single scratch appeared on Gilligan's arm guard.

The Dremora lord released the Dragonborn. While the mortal was still mid air, his opponent threw a punch at his chest plating with the hand that still held the steel whip.

The Dovahkiin was sent flying dozens of meters away. He impacted the ground violently; his helmet fell of the man's head and he groaned in pain upon coming to a stop.

It was quite clear at that point that the Dremora lord wanted to enjoy fighting the Dragonborn. If Gilligan wanted to kill him, the Daedra needed only snap his fingers, for all mortal life which entered his realm belonged to him, body and soul.

Through the coiling and the pain, the Dovahkiin managed to raise his head and look back at his opponent. Gilligan was disappointed.

"Is that it?" The giant bent his head right, to look from a different angle.

The Dovahkiin forced himself though the pain to get up and peer hatefully at the adversary. The sight of him was truly pitiful…

"What are you going to do now boy? Your weapon is broken. Your armor cannot protect you. You have, NO options left!" Gilligan had thrown both arms sideways as he said that.

His gesture only lasted for five seconds for the Dremora lord brought its empty hand forward and pointed it at the Dovahkiin.

"Become my son once more, and your suffering shall end!"

Im... Possible!

No! Never!

The Dragonborn reached into his chest and pulled out a talisman from beneath the plating of bone. He then held the talisman in between his hands as he delved into prayer.

He asked for help from the Divines.

But Gilligan disagreed. This was Korr Khaal, a most unopposed plane of Oblivion. There was no way a Divine would reach there in any shape, way or form. And more over, risk themselves for a puny, insignificant mortal?

The skies turned cloudy and from them busted forth a form…

 **PART TWO:**

Its head bent low, its wings high; it surrounded the Dragonborn in an aura of purity and righteousness. It was as if the Dovahkiin had become a representation of holiness, a thing of admiration and superiority!

It left Gilligan gawking speechlessly. His eyes were fixed on the being that just entered the site. It healed all wounds, mended each sickness; restored faith!

His knees could not contain it and gave in. The Dremora lord fell forward, still enlightened by that which stood before it.

The White Dragon raised its long neck as high as possible, spreading its wings even more, and released a powerful roar. The land shaked and trembled, the sky started circling rapidly above the spot from which light converged into that dark realm.

It was all such a sight to behold… Until it stopped. The White Dragon disappearing as if it was never there; it merely left the Dovahkiin with what appeared to be an orange sphere of power.

"Consume it, so that you may yet be saved!" The voice thundered through the skies, causing all manner of electrical discharges to fall upon Korr Khaal.

The Dragonborn brought the sphere close to his mouth so as to swallow. When it approached, it bursted into a larger orb, picked the Nord up and raised him to its center.

Clouds of thunder suddenly rushed the Dovahkiin. Some additional thunder bolts struck from the sky and caused Gilligan to shield his eyes. The spectacle was a little too flashy for his tastes...

The Dremora lord rose up, steel whip in one hand, surging lava in the other.

After he brought the whip up high, he striked at the sphere of cloud and thunder only to discover how measly amusing his weapon bounced off of its surface.

The Daedra lord did not want to just snap his fingers and instantly kill the Dovahkiin. He wanted to enjoy fighting the Nord.

His next attempt was to summon magma from his realm's core. With it, he encased the ball of smoke and sparkles into a shell of molten earth. He then laid several extra layers on top of it for safety precautions.

But it did not hold.

From the sides of the containment sprung forth long spears which ascended vertically to point defiantly at the sky.

From the front of the molten shell bursted unobscured a shape, supported by a long and thick neck and released a loud and powerful roar.

The molten shell completely broke open. It was now possible to see the contents within.

There was the Dragonborn, then there was a blue field of magicka encasing his entire figure in a protective egg like cocoon. To its sides, two large Draconic wings. Above it, a long neck and the visage of a dragon...

It all resembled a form much hated by Daedra kind.

"Yes..." Gilligan's eyes widened, his mouth grew into a grin. "This is what I've been waiting for!" He threw both arms sideways in a gesture of ecstasy.

 **PART THREE:**

Two eyes popped open to see a giant iron door, several animal carvings on it in a circular pattern. It had begun to rotate and sink by itself into the ground.

The Dragonborn laid on the ground, barely able to understand what the heck was going on. His flabbergasted state lasted for only a second, before he remembered one crucial thing:

"Hikari!" The man rose up and sprung into a sprint. He climbed stone stairs to once more arrive at an old sarcophagus, a thing that once mattered, where his companion currently waited.

She stood still like a statue, a scared expression on her face, with her arms stretched forward as if to recover something that was stolen.

"Hikari!" The Dovahkiin grabbed her shoulders as he shouted her name once more.

That was a mistake.

The girl's face turned to that of an unconscious person's and her body fell as if she had no control over it whatsoever.

The Nord panicked at the sight of Hikari's state. In that moment, it was very hard to tell if she was alive or not. Her breathing had stopped considerably, but a quick check confirmed that was still inhaling air.

That must have meant that her heart kept beating and pumping blood as well, which was a very good thing indeed.

The Dragonborn began casting Restoration spells in the hopes that it would help her recover.

She suddenly woke up to scream... This brief action ended with her once more falling into an unconscious state.

It was only then that the Nord realized what he should have done from the beginning: not touch her at all.

Hikari was under a curse. This knowledge made the Dragonborn to want to insult Gilligan to Oblivion and back, but he had no time for that.

Time was of the essence.

Upon reaching within his inventory, the Dovahkiin grasped onto a scroll. He took it out and channeled magicka into it.

The next second, black matter engulfed him and the girl and completely clouded their vision.

After nary a minute, the darkness which blocked sight vanished and revealed onto the two that the scroll successfully accomplished its task, being destroyed in the end: teleportation.

They now stood on a solid rock construct, a castle to be precise, amidst the blistering cold of winter.

Towards the Dragonborn's right was a fire pit, heavily lit up with a yellow flame. This fire had been magically enchanted to burn for an extended amount of time. Its purposes included keeping snow off the rooftop and making the dwelling look good.

To the Dovahkiin's left waited two door ways, both leading to staircases that provided entrance into the stone construction.

The above laid halfway to High Hrothgar, on the Seven Thousand Steps. It was a most welcome sight when the Nord first landed eyes upon Deus Mons.

 **PART FOUR:**

Two golden doors were pushed open with the shoulder of the Dragonborn. In his hands sat a cursed woman, who was in dire need of aid.

When they entered Deus Mons, the first room to greet them was the 'Hall of Deities'. As the name implied, this was where the statues of several venerable gods could be found, four in number, as well as a shrine for each of the nine divines that watch over Tamriel.

Directly adjacent of him were a pair of wooden doors which represented the main entrance into the castle. Outside of those doors awaited the blistering cold of winter and a long ass bridge towards the seven thousand steps.

The Dovahkiin did not mind any of that as he went directly to his right, where a second pair of golden doors was present. Passing through it, he was met by a statue of Azura, which held a shining star up high in her left hand. The Dragonborn quickly descended on the stairs behind said statue.

In the lower level, the first thing that came into sight was the forge at the end of the corridor. On the left and right awaited many manikins, all of which displayed venerable armor. Along the walls were assets on which weapons and shields could be placed.

The man had skipped all of that and proceeded unhindered further down.

On his way, the Dovahkiin passed by a fire pit which was complemented with several benches, making for a nice 'family union' spot. Opposite of that were found a few bookshelves filled to the brim. More armored manikins could also be found right next to the benches.

After another descent, the man arrived at yet another corridor. To its furthest left could be spotted a kitchen where wine, meat, bread, vegetables and most importantly, cheese, waited.

To the furthest right could be found a pool of hot water. That water had the advantage of being coupled to an advanced Dwemer pond cleaning system. It filtrated the water and heated it just so that it created the sensation of a sauna: the bathing room.

Many more manikins waited lifelessly, each supported their own fare share of glorious armor. All them were the proud displays of power and adventure the Dovahkiin had acquired throughout Skyrim.

After he passed through another pair of doors, the Dragonborn walked into an impressive room. A large bed waited to the left. It was accompanied by two big wooden wardrobes attached to the wall. Night stands with iron boxes full of jewelry...

Opposite of all that was a fire burning in a pit; wooden bench before it, manikin to its left. A world map on the wall to its right. A few flower decorations.

Near the manikin, another pair of golden doors, albeit smaller than the ones up above, lead to the safe of the house: the place where the Dragonborn stored all the coin he collected, all the incredibly valuable treasures worth keeping, and all of the Daedric artefacts of great power he came in contact with...

Opposite of the safe was another room, without doors. In it could be seen statues of heads on a wall for the busts of ancient Dragon Priests. Along those were the rare and battle hardened weapons the Dovahkiin came across in his journey and decided to keep. It was the 'armory', so to speak.

To the right of the doorway though with he had just walked in was a wooden desk, chair and potions rack. Behind that could be found one more book shelf.

All in all, it was a mighty comfortable bedroom. The kind which even Jarl's did not own.

The Dovahkiin swiftly moved left and placed Hikari on his bed. He then proceeded to knowingly remove her armor.

Needless to say, it was greatly shameful to take a girl's clothes off without her permission. Yet the situation was dire and Hikari required a place to rest while the Dovahkiin attempted to figure out a way to rescue her.

After he had covered the naked girl with the fur blanket, the Dragonborn turned around to the nightstand on which two lock boxes could be found.

He opened the one to the right and pulled out a white talisman with a red jewel in its center. The Nord obtained this necklace from a Vampire warlock he'd slain in a cavern some months back. Supposedly, the pendant granted its wearer 'eternal youth'.

Of course all of that not true. When the talisman was examined in Markarth by the court wizard Calcelmo, he referred to it as... 'An artefact through which the natural energies of life itself could freely course into its wearer, allowing them to live longer'.

The wizard afterwards attached himself to the Dovahkiin like a leech to get the Nord to sell it to him for a measly ten thousand gold.

The warrior was by no means low on money, so he refused. He then had to 'escape' the wizard's tricks of getting him arrested for multiple crimes he never committed.

The Dragonborn placed said talisman around Hikari's neck, hoping for the best.

A small glimmer of light emanated from the ruby in the centre of the pendant and possibly indicated that it began working as intended to.

The Dragonborn then grasped her right hand.

 **PART FIVE:**

"-You can't dictate who I bring to this council!" General Tullius spoke in defense of the accursed Thalmor ambassador at the peace treaty, to a man who disagreed completely.

"Please-" Master Arngeir spoke. "-If we have to negotiate the terms of the negotiation, we will never get anywhere. Perhaps this would be a good time to get the Dragonborn's input on this matter."

"By Ysmir's beard, the nerve of those Imperial bastards." Ulfric Stormcloak spoke. "To think that I would sit down at the same table with that… Thalmor bitch. Either she walks o…"

He had been stopped without a word, without even a whisper, when he looked at the slayer of dragons, who shivered.

The Dovahkiin's hands were clenched together, fingers running through each other as he sat down, head leaned forward. His mind was clouded with thoughts about the girl. She had not woken up yet.

Looking like that… it gave everyone the impression he was mentally preparing for the fight with the World Eater whilst he was in fact worried sick about Hikari.

Feeling the silence and the stares, he lifted his gaze, to measure each and everybody there present with an eye glance, with what little sight he had left to give them.

"Ulfric why so hostile?" Elenwen started. "After all, it's not the Thalmor that's burning your farms and killing your sons."

"She's supposed to be on our side?" Legate Rikke, Tullius's second in command, who was placed a little too close to the Dovahkiin, spoke.

"No… No, it's not." The Dragonborn finally flipped gums. "But it's the Thalmor that dictates the rules of the Imperium after your concordat, even on matters that don't concern them at all. Elenwen… You're dismissed."

"What? How dare you?! I must make sure none of-"

"Yes, yes, you can hear this entire story another time from either Jarl Elisif or General Tullius. Now get out." That felt good…

"Ugh." It put a mighty grin on Ulfric's face at the sight of how the Dragonborn handled that Elenwen bitch. It was quite obvious at this point that both of them hate the Thalmor.

But, that time, he could not hate Elenwen. Though she did not mean it, she permitted the Dragonborn to release some pent up frustration and fear that he'd been accumulating in the past hour.

His mind could return to a state of near full functionality.

"Now that that's settled, may we proceed?"

"I have something to say first." No doubt trying to come into contact with a position of power, that Ulfric.

The Dragonborn's been kind to drive Elenwen away at his request, but he'd better not start showing off now.

"The only reason I attended this council, was to deal with the dragon menace. There's nothing else to talk about, unless the Empire is finally ready to renounce its unjust claim to rule over the free people of Skyrim."

"I knew he wouldn't be able to resist…" The Legate, who was just so conveniently positioned near the Dovahkiin so as to whisper to him these little insignificant things.

"We're here to arrange a temporary truce to allow the Dragonborn, to deal with the dragons. Nothing more."

'That's the whole point of this meeting you dumbass.'

"I even consider talking to the Empire a generous gesture."

"Are you done?" Tullius retaliated. "Did you just come here to make speeches or can we get down to business?" The loss of the Thalmor ambassador didn't seem to go well with him.

"Yes, let's get this over with." Ulfric finally sat down.

"Are we ready to proceed?" Arngeir took over. "Jarl Ulfric. General Tullius. This council is unprecedented. We are gathered here at the Dragonborn's request. I ask that you all respect the spirit of High Hrothgar and do your best to begin the process of achieving a lasting peace in Skyrim. Who would like to open the negotiations?"

"Yes, let's get down to it." Ulfric began. "We want control of Markarth. That's our price for agreeing to a truce."

"So that's why you're here Ulfric?" Elisif finally spoke. "You dare to insult the Greybeards by using this council to advance your own position?"

"Jarl Elisif! I'll handle this."

"General, this is outrageous! You can't be taking this demand seriously! I thought we were here to discuss a truce!"

"Elisif! I said I'll handle it."

'You damn better.'

"Ulfric, you can't seriously expect us to give Markarth at the negotiating table. You hope to gain in council what you've been unable to take in battle, is that it?"

"I'm sure Jarl Ulfric does not expect something for nothing." The wisdom of a sage was bestowed upon them by Arngeir.

"Yes, that would be entirely out of character." The Legate spoke to Elisif, as the Dovahkiin caught wind of it every time.

"What would the Empire want in return?"

"Wait." Elisif… still bitching about High King Torygg's death. "General, you don't intend to just hand over Markarth to that… traitor?!"

"This is how the Empire repays us for our loyalty?" Jarl Balgruuf spoke up.

"Enough!" Tullius responded. "First, let's be clear. This council wasn't my idea. I think it's a waste of time." He turned to face Ulfric. "You are a traitor to the Empire and deserve a traitor's death." The general returned face to the Jarl's. "But I at least will negotiate in good faith."

'Oh will you now?'

"Since we're all here at your request, I'd like to hear what you think Markarth is worth."

'What did I say…' "How about ten tons of gold and a slap to the face? Makes no difference to me what any of you give up so long as I get to slay Alduin."

"You… Have no opinion on this matter?"

"You want my opinion? Fine, I choose Riften. All the mead for oneself to drown in."

"You heard the man Ulfric. We've made you a fair offer, are you serious about these talks or are you here just to posture?"

Ulfric got up from his seat, and his second in command, Galmar. The slight anger in his face told the Dovahkiin that they were mighty unpleased with this outcome.

"I see now that Galmar was right. Talking to the Empire is just as useless as ever. If you think you can hold Markarth, you're as deluded as your Emperor when he signed away our freedom to the Thalmor. Skyrim will never again bow to your false Empire! Let's go Galmar."

'Discriminating our people by showing us to the world as barbaric…'

"You always were a fool Ulfric. You're no better at diplomacy than you are on the battlefield."

"Stop! Are you so blind to our danger that you can't see past your petty disagreement?" Esbern of the Blades spoke, rising up from his seat to face the self-proclaimed High King. "Here you sit arguing about nothing! While the fate of the land hangs in the balance."

"Is he with you Delphine? If so, I advise you to tell him to watch his tongue."

"He is with me." She spoke with a rather angered and displeased tone. "And I advise you both to listen to what he has to say, before you do anything rash."

"Don't you understand what the return of the dragons means? Alduin has returned!" Esbern looked to everyone sitting at the establishment. "The World-Eater! Even now he devours the souls of your fallen comrades!" His gaze returned to Ulfric. "He grows more powerful with every soldier slain in your pointless war. Can you not put aside your hatred for even one moment in the face of this mortal danger?"

Ulfric stood a second to consider this important aspect before he, Galmar and Esbern moved to sit back down on their chairs.

"If he's right about Alduin, we both have just as much to lose here Tullius. Remember that. Now, back to the matter at hand."

'Finally you come to your senses.'

"Don't hand me a mug of sheep's piss and call it mead. These terms are still not acceptable."

'Or… Not?'

"I'm sure you have something in mind." General Tullius, with just as much ambition and excitement as a Mammoth, after it just took a shit.

"Damn right we do." Galmar spoke for the first time during the meeting.

"You surrender Hjaalmarch to us, and take Idgrod Ravencrone with you. Sarli the Builder will take over as Jarl of Morthal."

"Where do these demands stop Ulfric? Do you expect me to surrender all of Skyrim?"

'He does.'

"It seems I have no choice but to let the Dragonborn decide."

"You already got a city for a city. Unless you plan to swap Windhelm with Solitude, I'd suggest you stop."

Ulfric looked a bit nervous at the Dragonborn, for he was right. You can't just keep swapping allegiances of cities, it would lead to both factions swapping the side of Skyrim in which they are located.

"So be it. The sons of Skyrim at least put the greater good above our own interests."

'Yea right…'

"And so we arrive at an agreement." Master Arngeir intervened. "Jarl Ulfric. General Tullius. These are the terms currently on the table. Markarth will be handed over to Ulfric's forces. Jarl Igmund will step down, and Thongvar Silver-Blood will become the Jarl of Markarth. The Stormcloaks will withdraw from the Rift, allowing Imperial troops unhindered access. Jarl Laila Law-Giver will step down, and Maven Black-Briar will become the Jarl of Riften." He looked at both negotiators for a second. "You both agree to this?"

"I shouldn't agree to terms that so blatantly favor the Empire. I have no choice, tough, under the circumstances…"

'Of course you don't.'

"But once Alduin is defeated, then it will be the Empire's turn. Remember. Evgir Unslaad." His attention turned to Skyrim's current High King. "You should be pleased Elisif. You've done well for yourself as the Empire's pet Jarl. But beware. The Empire's loyalty is fickle. They will tire of this war, and then I will the one dictating terms to you."

"I have nothing to say to that murderer. General, you've proven yourself a good friend to Skyrim. I continue to trust that you will do your utmost to safeguard our interests."

"Thank you, Jarl Elisif. I appreciate your loyalty. The Empire can live with these terms, yes. For a temporary truce, until the dragon menace is dealt with. After that Ulfric, there will be a reckoning. Count on it."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX:**

 **PART ONE:**

The crowd cherished in delight as the gladiator reveled in his kills. Many Dremora held their fist up high and demanded more blood be spilled like the ruthless savages they were.

Gilligan stood atop the coliseum on a throne made from the bones of the slain. There were no less than four succubi around the Dremora lord, lingering on and creating an air of superiority for him; a display of wealth and power.

He stood leaned back on his throne, as if bored by the events down below. Surely, he must have seen such lack of performance hundreds of time by now.

The gladiator, a Nord warrior, spilled much mortal blood on that unholy ground. On Mundus, his home world, he was but a simple guard. Yet in the realm of Korr Khaal, he was a champion!

The gate opened. Through it slowly came the next victim: it was a child… Couldn't have been more than five. Some of the Daedras quenched their thirst for blood when they saw him. It was replaced with confusion and disgust.

'Why a brat?'

'How did it get here?'

'Take it away. Its bones are too fragile.'

Even the Nord was surprised to see a kid there. But that didn't stop him.

If he had to kill a certain number of people to attain greatness and one of those people happened to be a defenseless child, that Nord gladly accepted the lack of struggle in his path to glory.

Wounds already came into view upon approaching said child. It made it into a very pathetic sight. Dremoras most likely tortured the boy before they threw him into the arena.

After he arrived in front of the kid, the gladiator threw a kick and sent him flying back. The child landed on its left, coiled its arms and legs together to squirm in pain, but it had not screamed.

It held its agony within, silently accepting it as part of him.

That was most likely how the Daedra 'trained' the boy: a slave.

"Kill the damn thing!"

"Rip its throat out!"

"Gouge out its eyes!"

Despite how vigorous the crowd cheered, the Daedra lord was not entertained. Gilligan was in fact bored. It lacked sport.

The Nord approached and intended on killing the brat.

But the kid heard a whisper and attempted with all it could to raise its head. The voice in its head spoke to the boy: he was to say three words.

"-… Ro… Dah..." It thundered through the arena, throwing the gladiator on his back.

He had been hit with the force of a giant, and it echoed throughout the stadium. It put everyone on high alert.

Gilligan jolted his head to stand at attention. "Was that a shout?"

 **PART TWO:**

Everyone was pissed. A large number of Daedras jumped into the arena, weapons at the ready, and approached the child.

They hated the dragons and their power of speech and as such, assembled themselves quickly to kill the brat.

There were many kinds of weapons with them, and the look they all had on their face… it almost seemed like they would fight amongst themselves just to get a chance at killing the boy.

Gilligan rose up.

Noticing the immediate danger, the voice that previously spoke to the child had lifted him off the ground and encased the child in blue energy.

Noticing a severely large amount of magicka protecting the boy, the Dremora stopped. Clearly, something was going to happen.

Not one moment later, that magicka bursted into a form bigger than most giants. It left the Daedra gawking helplessly.

The kid was in the chest, the 'core' of that being. On the sides, two long spears like hands, but covered with spectra scale and skin, making for wings.

Supported by a long neck, a head could be spotted. And, as if full of hatred, two threatening red eyes.

It took everyone by surprise when it moved its wing arm and struck a dozen or two Dremora, sending them flying to their deaths.

It then continued on a rampage, squashing every single fiend which approached it. There seemed no stopping it…

… But it had stopped.

With the snap of a finger, all sources of magicka were cut off from the realm of Korr Khaal, and the draconic form had started subsiding, returning the monstrosity to a mere child.

He rested on the ground, unconscious. The only one enemy remaining, a Nord who only wished to survive, approached the boy, intent on hitting…

… Nothing as his blade fell into Gilligan's hand. It took the Dremora lord only half a second to kill that unworthy piece of crap that raised a blade at this innocent child.

Looking back at the boy, Gilligan grinned.

 **PART THREE:**

The boy slept. He rested softly in a succubae's embrace, it being nearly as comfortable as a bed.

He was sleeping so cutely that she couldn't help but cuddle. Though, that earlier display of power left her fearing at the moment.

But, this boy proved valuable, and lord Gilligan wanted to keep him alive. Thus, he was given to her, for, her embrace slowly healed the child of all wounds.

She attempted to guess what her liege would do with this boy, considering his connection to the dragon himself.

Chances are Gilligan will take him and train him to serve Korr Khaal, maybe this boy would achieve the impossible and kill a Divine…

Such far fetched fantasies allowed the succubi a moment of peace and tranquility, as she was left with the boy in a small room in one of the Black Towers.

Normally, she would be entertaining her liege with myriad ways of sexual acts, or she'd be tormenting enslaved souls with the same acts of lust.

In the realm of Korr Khaal, sex with a succubi was the complete opposite of pleasurable, for those of mortal kind.

Though it was still extremely agonizing, the pain was manageable due to the fact that their skin had healing properties.

So while riding the poor souls of Mundus who could not keep their cranny in their pants back when they first met, the very fact that their victims felt pain drove the succubi to the point of 'feeding' on said agony. They would willingly make them feel actual physical pain while gaining pleasure from them.

She removed the boy from her bosom and brought her left hand close to his unconscious face. Her nails extended to make for blades. The fact that she intended to hurt the child was visible all over her face through her sick grin and the fact her whole face blushed.

When one single razor sharp nail touched the boy, her heart immediately skipped a beat.

It was fear.

She was struck with complete and utter fear at the realization that her lord would flay her alive over and over again for every single drop of blood to fall from the boy.

The succubi braced and pulled the boy into a hug, a look of horror on her face.

 **PART FOUR:**

Gilligan opened the way to the aether, permitting magicka to once more flow into his realm. He stood in the arena.

The child waited several feet away from him. The Daedra lord had taken to calling him the 'dragonbrat'.

"Come on dragonbrat. Show me your fury!" Or em... the fury of the Divine whom managed to make the boy assume a draconic form.

Magicka once more surrounded the child, encasing him like an egg into a protective shell, then, gaining shape by sprouting wings and a head.

The creation was impressive, but it was even more so when one stood and zeroed in on the fact that it was a child whom performed the deed.

And indeed Gilligan would have much fun in teaching this child how to do great deeds...

In the Daedra's right hand appeared a short sword as he prepared to combat the Divine that just took hold of the boy's body and permitted him to become dragon kin.

The first to act was the Dremora, whom jumped back so as to avoid being hit by the plunging dragon head. Upon having stable ground once more, he dashed forward at blinding speeds, making it past the dragon's defenses and reaching the child's shell almost effortlessly.

Gilligan then slashed clean off the shoulder the neck of the dragon, and was immediately bitten by the head as protest.

Discovering that slicing the magicka head would not be effective, the Daedra lord punched its jaw off of him, which for the record did nothing but scratch his armor, and pushed both hands to the sides of his body so as to stop the wings from slamming on his location.

He then anchored himself to the ground with one foot and with the other, kicked at the construct's core, fully penetrating the magicka barrier and hitting the dragonbrat square in the face.

The child had been sent flying several meters away.

"Is that it?" Perhaps his disappointment was to be expected. After all, Gilligan was no mere Dremora.

After closing his realm's connection to the aether, the Daedra lord approached the dragonbrat.

Was he a fool to think that the child would put up more of a fight in its undermined state?

 **PART FIVE:**

Gilligan finally fell down, his body being filled to the brim with bruises and bleeding wounds all over his battered and broken remains. He had finally gotten what he always wanted.

The Dremora lord had both his arms shattered due to attempting to block the Dovahkiin's wing slams multiple times, and when they did break, he was left near defenseless against the fury of the dragon.

The Dovahkiin fell to his knees after returning to human form, gasping heavily due to necessity.

He had been overcome with a primal burst of dragonic force, and fought maddeningly against the Daedric lord of Korr Khaal. He was still in the planes of oblivion.

The Nord would need aid to escape from there, but at least for now, Gilligan lay dead.

That was one less thing to worry about. The higher priority objective, as the Dragonborn though, would be to find Hikari. If he was taken to Korr Khaal, then she should be there as well, right?

As he was getting up, the man dearly hoped Hikari was still on Mundus. A plane of oblivion was certainly not the nicest of places to be in and if the girl was indeed trapped there, she'd surely be subjected to unfathomable acts of terror and brutality.

Four Black Towers came in full view, allowing the Dovahkiin to realize that Korr Khaal was neither vast nor enormous. It was rather small for a plane of Oblivion. But even with that, it was rather impossible to tell where he was.

The good news, at least, was that it might take him three to four days at best to explore the entire realm.

The Dragonborn turned back to look at Gilligan when the Dremora lord spoke for the last time:

"Deep inside we're… Kindred spirits… You… And I…"


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

 **PART ONE:**

Hikari's eyes slowly opened. Her vision was greeted by the wooden figure of a roof, clearly indicating she had been relocated. Her first thought was of her home, the temple of Kynareth in Whiterun.

But she was wrong.

After she'd turned her head left, she observed an unrecognizable pit fire, providing light and warmth within the chamber she was currently located in.

The girl perceived the need to get up, as her body felt numb, and proceeded to do so, except that something caught her attention.

After pulling her gaze to the right, she noticed her friend and companion, the Dragonborn, sitting on a chair besides the bed, with his upper half asleep near her. He only wore a pair of trousers, allowing clear view of his musculature, and... was firmly holding onto her right hand.

The Dovahkiin was most likely the one who rescued her from the... tomb place that she couldn't remember well at the time. A small line of blush happened on Hikari's face at the realization that he cared for her.

Hikari noticed her bed clothing: a multitude of bandages and wrappings around her chest and waists. This whole discovery made her shiver at the thought that she'd been undressed and clothed by the Dragonborn while she was unconscious.

The thought made the girl pull both her hands around her body, covering it as if she were under the lustful gaze of many, fully exposed, ashamed and embarrassed as she looked back at the Dragonborn.

Wanting to slap him at first, Hikari soon realized the most important part of everything: he saved her life. As such, slapping him in his unconscious state, or any state for that matter, would be very rude and inappropriate.

She instead opted to calm down, leaning closer to the Dovahkiin.

With a gentle touch, her lips caressed his cheek in utter silence, creating a small, infinite moment of peace and prosperity, tranquility and possibly love.

"Thank you." Quietly whispered like the buzz of a flea, it was all that the girl could muster in that moment.

Hikari couldn't fathom how embarrassing it would have been should her friend wake up and discover what she'd done without his knowing. Not to mention the most awkward moment it would create between the two.

Getting back up, she looked at her wrappings, fully accepting them as a sign of emotion, and displaying said acceptance by briefly adopting a position that... embraced, the gift.

She almost looked like a mother hugging her newborn child.

 **PART TWO:**

Hikari had got out of bed, his bed, and begun discovering the dwelling that the Dragonborn took her to, being completely flabbergasted at the whole construction.

Did the Dovahkiin build this whole place? She wandered through and through, exploring every nook and cranny with a very visible glimmer in her eyes.

She had seen the hall of mannequins, the sauna, the kitchen, the living up higher... but now she'd been more amazed than ever.

Before her waited the armor Hikari wore throughout her adventures with and without the Dragonborn. Only that now, there was a problem: the armor had been modified.

No longer was it as exposing as it once was. It would appear as most weaknesses had been removed from the equipment, but at the cost of making it heavier.

Her chest plate now reached up until the neck where a fancy winged helmet waited, the only gap in protection being a line for eyes to peer through. The back of the helmet had a maneuverable chain mail attached to it, possibly for the purpose of not being a hindrance to her hair.

Moving down, the breast plate completely covered her abdomen and lower sections, leaving no skin exposed. Her waist now had an ebony dress around it, long enough to reach until her knees, covering her crotch and backside properly.

Her leggings had been completely redone, as they proved unrecognizable, and they now covered her lower body entirely.

Her shoulder pads had been remade, spikes no longer adorning them, leaving instead a round shaped pad that lead down unto the arms. Similar to the rest of her equipment, the arms had no gaps in protection at all.

Quickly checking for any hidden blades, Hikari found none.

'Did he do this?' She was beyond surprised at the thought that someone, possibly the Dragonborn, heavily modified her armor, it now being a full body suit.

As it was supported by the manikin, the girl figured her armor must now weigh about twice or three times as much, mostly due to the fact that her war gear was thicker.

It was an absolute achievement when Hikari found her armor in the first dungeon she ever explored. No, it would be safe to say that her meeting with that equipment was a blessing from the Divines.

Hikari placed her right hand on the armor's left shoulder pad, grasping at it and feeling its protective layers. Deep within, the girl sensed that the Dovahkiin was indeed the one who remodeled the armor, and she understood that he'd worked with endearment and thought of her while hammering.

"Thank you..." Once more she thanked her companion, who'd proven a loyal and trustworthy friend. Surely he would not let her down when she would need him most.

Looking to her left, Hikari had caught sight of another armor, white in color, and just as impressive if not more so, than her original armor.

Its helmet was an exact replica of the black winged one, but white in color. She guessed this overall shape or form provided increased protection or something. There was also a blue halo above the helmet.

Everything else about the armor looked different, but Hikari was unsure if the change in color was what gave it a different appearance.

Similar to the modified version of her armor, the white one too had no exposed body parts. Wouldn't want to get shot with poisonous darts a second time now would she?

But something that this second armor had which the first one didn't, were some kind of flying crosses above the shoulder pads. Hikari only stood gawking at them speechlessly for... They were quite majestic.

Her left hand moved almost subconsciously to try and touch the levitating crosses, all the while standing there stunned at the whole idea that floating protection even exists.

As a matter of fact, she was quite flabbergasted at the whole concept of flying things. The only things that could fly were birds and dragons, thus, it felt natural that nothing else fly.

Such terrible mentality...

One more question now crossed her mind: could the Dragonborn himself fly? He was after all linked to dragon kind in some shape or form, so maybe there was a chance... Wait. Wouldn't he have just flown to the tomb after they'd partnered up in the first place?

If he could fly, that surely would have happened, right?

The girl had heard a sound from her left.

 **PART THREE:**

"Come on Rubmeir! You can't seriously be wanting to go visit the old hermits?!"

Three male figures were climbing the seven thousand steps that lead to High Hrothgar. Each of them wore full ebony armor, but it was by no means Daedric.

"Were not stopping Zieger." Their leader spoke, he was the one to walk in the front.

"But it became so cold! And there was a troll back there!" The third of them spoke, his name was Meur and he was without a doubt the most cowardly of the three.

"Stop your whining, we must be getting close to our destination by now!" Their leader Rubmeir addressed his complaining friend, if they could be called that way.

Their relationship was in decline due to their life career.

"About that... I think we're only halfway there." Zieger spoke. He was arguably the smartest of the three.

"What?" Rubmeir had stopped and turned revolted. "How do you know that?"

Zieger responded by looking right, up high, indicating the usage of the mountains height so as to measure how many of the seven thousand steps they took.

So far, it was quite discouraging.

"Hey, look over there." The rat Meur spoke, pointing at something in the far distance and drawing the attention of his comrades. "What say you to resting a bit there?"

What the three of them were looking at was a castle placed to the side of the seven thousand steps, a place which held just as much delight as plight to the three Nords.

They looked at each other. "Do we go there?"

"Fine, but if we die, I'm telling Shor it was your idea." As if any of the three of them would ever go to Sovngarde.

They were not honorable, they were the scum of the earth. They would steal and kill just to make a living, true low lives. It was by mere chance that they found some corpses which wore ebony suits of armor for them to pillage.

The three Nords had made their way across the stone bridge which connected the mountain and the keep, desperately wanting any sort of protection from the freezing air outside.

Upon enter, it was to their great relief that no guards stood guard, and to their great astonishment to see the mighty and majestic Hall of Deities.

"Holy... Are these made of gold?" All nine shrines to the Divines were made of gold, and they'd been kept shiny throughout their entire existence.

"This will surely fetch a good price on the-"

"No, no!" Meur interrupted Zieger from picking it up. "I've heard that stealing the golden shrine of a Divine would bring really bad luck!"

"Stop cowering you idiot and forget about bad luck. Gold is gold." Rubmeir had straightened him out. "But. As with any dwelling, there have to be dwellers."

The three unsheathed their ebony swords and looked to the golden doors to their left.

 **PART FOUR:**

Hikari was suddenly rushed and pushed down by a Nord wearing ebony armor, a wicked look on Rubmier's face to see such a trophy so early on. Gold AND a beautiful woman? Had he discovered paradise?

Due to the man's complete daedranization with greed and lust, Hikari became scared out of existence, almost.

"Look at this body!" Rubmier had whistled hungrily in delight as he pushed down the defenseless girl. "Meur! Get here and hold her!"

The coward had done as such quickly, coming over to push down Hikari's arms, permitting their leader's hands to maneuver freely.

Zieger moved to the doorway leading further down, ensuring nobody else was there present.

Rubmier ripped Hikari's chest wrappings off her bosom, exposing her beautiful gigantic breasts and whistled once more.

The girl began squirming under their powerful grip, her mouth being filled with the wrappings she'd wear on her chest, eyes beginning to tear.

And could she not? She was about to be raped by three individuals she knew nothing about. If it were a friend however, it would still be classified as rape but with chances of turning it consensual.

Her body was absolutely fantastic! A work of art!

Even the rat Meur had to agree that Hikari was absolutely stunning, a true gift ripped from the heavens and left on the earth to rot. But not for long.

The three of them would soon give her much purpose...

"Fus! Ro Dah!" Zieger flew back into the forge room, landing in between the two armor sets forged for Hikari.

It made the girl very happy to hear a familiar voice, a most welcome sound.

Rubmier silently signaled Meur to keep the girl pinned down as he took hold of his sword to deal with the one who made Zieger fly.

What made him think he stood a chance?

Well, one, he knew how shouts worked, them requiring large intervals of time before being useable once more. And two, they were in a house: his opponent was bound to be lightly equipped. He might have a dagger or a sword at best, but no real armor to protect him or her from being stabbed.

Possibly. This was all assumption.

Things would only get worse if the one in question used magic of any kind, but that was irrelevant because Rubmier just didn't want to think about it.

He rushed at the corner of the doorway, then emerged with a 'leap stab'.

His efforts ended in vain as he was instantly smacked and pinned to the ground by what could very well be described as the hand of a giant.

The Dragonborn stepped forward, encased in the blue magical barrier that was the torso of a dragon standing up straight, a very pissed look on his face.

The three bandits were in deep shit, as Meur reckoned, and he pulled out his sword to threaten Hikari.

"Stop! Don't do anything to me or my buddies or she bleeds!" The Dovahkiin only turned head to look at him, and it frightened the rat.

It was to be noted that, inside the dragon of magic, light was displayed rather intensely, causing the Dragonborn to have some kind of ghostly appearance combined with a bit of monstrosity. It was very frightening, and considering what was currently happening in his house...

Meur suddenly felt himself lifted off the ground by an invisible force.

The Dragonborn had rendered him unable to be pulled by gravity and thus, he began ascending towards the roof, outside reach of harm to Hikari.

Picking the thug with the dragons right arm, the Dovahkiin then brought all three of them within the palms of his dov's hands, channeling a furious amount of magicka at them despite their cries and pleas for forgiveness.

In a second, they were gone...

Dragonword was the word of power used to give the Dovahkiin a draconic body of mana, but all the mana he had was spent in order to turn the three goons to ashes. The blue shell dissolved from around the Nord.

Hikari had gathered her arms and covered her exposed chest. The girl then pulled her feet close to the rest of her body in a form reminiscent of a cube of sorrow.

After having noticed that she was safe, the Dragonborn had approached and kneeled in front of her. He stared at the girl.

Hikari had not stopped tearing. Her eyes met those of her saviors and saw the pity in them, but without a single desire to do cruel things to her, whatsoever. It was for the very reason of 'not wanting Hikari just for her body' that he did not touch her.

She saw a gentle approach from the Dovahkiin and had received the silent message of 'I do not wish to hurt you'.

Hikari had been brought to tears even further by his kindness and had sought out the man's shoulder to support her sobbing.

To think she had such a friend...

 **PART FIVE:**

After having searched through the Hall of Deities for any more 'guests' and having locked his front door, the Dragonborn returned to the bedroom on which Hikari was curled up in.

The girl's feet had been drawn close to her chest, her face was buried in between them while her arms ran across her beautiful framework to resemble a small cube of sorrow.

"Hikari..." He'd said her name with little thought of the fact that she'd raise her still crying visage to look at him. He then quickly came up with something to tell her.

But alas, the Dovahkiin hadn't had the time to say his excuse for the girl spoke before him: "I was so scared!" There was clear fear in her voice, but also, great happiness at the thought that it was all over.

Hikari had once more gotten close enough to use his shoulder as sponge for tears, a thing which caused the Dragonborn to mindlessly hug her in return. Unbeknownst to any of the two, his arms had become her safe haven and sanctuary.

"You are safe, no harm can come to you now."

"Promise?" The question had taken him by surprise, more than it should have.

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I promise." What the hell was he doing? Was he swearing an oath to forever protect the girl so long as she'd be by his side?

What the heck was it? He did not know.

It was in that very moment that the complete unexpected had happened: "I... I love you..."

She'd told him.

She'd finally done it.

At long last, it was finally off her chest... And right on top of his shoulders as the revelation hit hard.

The Dragonborn was flabbergasted by it. It was a truly earth shattering confession.

Never had he seen it coming.

Truthfully speaking the Dovahkiin was physically attracted to Hikari, but more than that, he also found her personality cute and to his liking.

The girl unburied her head from his shoulder and wiped her tears away. She then attempted to adopt a figure as serious as possible.

Hikari used her newly formed visage and stared at the Dovahkiin rather intensely. This in turn caused him to partially break out of his trance.

He mindlessly whispered: "I love you too..."

Hikari was rushed with a surge of happiness at the sound of it and had drawn in close to the Dragonborn.

The two experienced a unification of lips.

It appeared as though they were fated to share that bed after all...


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

 **PART ONE:**

The Dragonborn looked in disgust. That morning, he'd headed to Kynesgrove, to the inn south of Windhelm, the place where he once met with Delphine in order to learn of the dragon's return.

The reason he was there once more was due to a letter. Upon his arrival, three women laid dead, two men were down as well. The significant difference stood in the fact that the men died with their pants off.

The Dovahkiin quickly unsheathed his sword and proceeded left to the open door of a room from which one could perceive moaning sounds.

Upon stepping into the doorway, the Dragonborn froze. He could no longer move. He was only able to stare as a succubus rode and drained the life of the innkeeper.

The poor sod died as he climaxed, much to the succubus's dismay.

"Haah, done so soon?" She breathed audibly for a few seconds before bringing both legs outside the bed and dismounting the dead man. "I knew you'd come." She addressed the Dragonborn, who stood as rigid as stone. "How does the girl fare? Is she in pain?"

The succubus had said that last line with visible delight at the prospect of another's agony, even of her own kind. She looked to his face, reminded that he couldn't exactly talk.

Having snapped two fingers: "Elianna! You horri-" And snapped them again as apparently, unsealing the Dovahkiin's mouth proved to only lead to the succubus being insulted as the unwelcome 'bla bla' that she was.

"As you no doubt guessed when you saw the letter, I was the one to cursed the girl." She fuzzed and moved closer to the Dragonborn. "Did you know? The girl is a succubus as well."

'WHAT?!' The Nord would have like to scream that word out and insult Elianna like the lying bitch that she was. But he was unable to do any of that. So much for the mightiest warrior of Skyrim when he was incapable of moving due to the binding shackles of a succubus.

"You must be thinking that I'm lying. I would never lie about my own kind!" Her face turned to one filled with hatred as she said those words. In a stark and twisted way, Elianna always wished for the betterment of her own kin, just like how the Dovahkiin willed good upon all of mortals.

So then, why had she just revealed that Hikari was a succubus?

One possibility lead to the conclusion that she wanted the Dragonborn and Hikari to part ways, either by them just saying goodbye or by going at each other with sharp ends. Or perhaps he would assassinate her quickly and mercifully.

The girl would die an unknowable death, forever feeling sorrow in her afterlife until she could no longer endure. She would then begin to curse her friend, whom killed her for no apparent reason, and would then probably accept a revenge contract with the Daedra.

That scenario would indeed play very well within the succubus's hands: not only would she cause the girl to revert to her true form, but she was also inflict pain on the Dovahkiin for putting him through killing a friend, possibly a lover.

"But you don't have to worry really. She'll die tomorrow and there's nothing you can do to stop it." The second possibility: the curse would kill Hikari and in doing so, transform the girl into Daedra kind.

Elianna lifted her left hand and dragged a finger across the Dragonborn's chest plating while also bringing her face closer to his. "Well, there's one thing you could do..."

The succubus united her lips with his for a few undying seconds. "You could... Become... My lord..." She spoke whilst kissing, offering the Dragonborn a deal: have sex with her and return to Korr Khaal to be crowned owner of that realm.

Some would have agreed to that deal. Not the Dovahkiin though. There was no saying if the succubus would remove the curse on Hikari, even if he accepted.

He responded to said invitation by activating Dragonword to separate himself from Elianna. The succubus stuttered back as the large quantity of mana flooded the Dragonborn and encased him in an egg like structure. From that egg emerged a Dov arm, ramming itself into the succubus and pushing until she had found herself outside of the inn.

The Dragonborn had regained control of himself, rushing out through the newly made hole in the wall. Elianna lay down on the ground, not dead yet, but not quite able to move either. Pain shot through all of her body, a multitude of bones clearly broken.

She had not the time to even move her head and say anything as the dragon arm slammed heavily on her position, killing the succubus permanently.

The glow in the Dragonborn's eyes faded away with his anger, allowing the Nord to realize what he'd done: he killed his only chance of rescuing Hikari.

Becoming lord of Korr Khaal was utterly unacceptable, it was not a path for any mortal kind to take.

A greedy but smart person would have accepted Elianna's offer, and once he was lord, he'd have weaved things in such a manner that he'd have brought Hikari to Korr Khaal.

The Dovahkiin wasn't greedy, his mentality was always a kind one, never truly wishing to harm any of his mortal kin and always wanting to vent his fury on the Daedra which abused them. He was a sort of 'bringer of retribution'.

But unwillingly, in that maddening rage, the Dovahkiin might have sealed the girl's fate.

He had to wait until the day that followed in order to know for certain.

 **PART TWO:**

It had been two days since the events in Kynesgrove took place. Hikari was supposed to have perished the day before, yet she now sat comfy on a chair in the kitchen of Deus Mons, with her friend.

The Dragonborn had been cooking the precious elk steak he acquired and stored away a day ago. A certain special occasion had demanded a feast. It was a celebration dedicated to Hikari. But more than that, it was a test to see if the girl had indeed transformed in any way.

Besides the usual sound of the fire biting at the frying pan on which the steak was placed and the piece of meat responding by sizzling, there was an eerie silence in the kitchen.

On one side, it was due to the fact that the girl was contemplating on how she'd confessed her love. On the other, the Dragonborn did not know what exactly to say. Not only was there the possibility that Hikari was a succubus, but the two had also confessed to each other.

The Nord truly hoped that Elianna lied. He loved the girl too much to accept having to stab her later. For any mortal, to love a She-Daedra always resulted in death.

The lack of words continued on until the Nord declared that he'd finished cooking the meat. Hikari's gaze had switched to look at her friend as he cut the big piece of meat and placed it on two silver plates, approaching the table.

The dining table was composed of quality wood, upon it already having been placed utensils, glasses and a bottle of fine wine.

A silent 'wah' escaped the girl as the silver plate landed ahead of her, though it did not escape her lips at fear of embarrassing herself before her newly acquired lover. She still zeroed in on the fact that they'd accepted to be together.

The Dragonborn sat on the chair opposite of her with a smile on his face. "Lets eat."

The girl took a bite of the soft crunchy meat and felt an electrocution jolting through her whole body. The food was delicious!

She was eating... Good. A succubus did not require mortal food and was often times quite disgusted by it.

Seeing the girl almost rupture into a frenzy, the Nord was reminded that he too was hungry and proceeded towards the clean, freshly cut tomatoes and other vegetables on the table.

After a good fifteen minutes, the two finished their morning meal. Hikari leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, concentrating on how good the food was.

"I take it you enjoyed the elk steak a lot." He wanted to start a conversation. "I kept it for the special occasion that is today."

"What occasion is today?" Hikari had opened her eyes after a brief delay, allowing her attention to fall upon her friend.

The Dovahkiin smiled and in a quiet but strong tone, he told her: "Us." His smile grew wider.

The Nord then had the privilege of witnessing the girl petrify, her face lighting up like a hot pot on a fire, achieving the redness of a tomato. Smoke probably puffed out of her ears as well, but that was a thing he could not see.

"You are very beautiful you know that?" The man extended his right hand and placed it above Hikari's own, allowing a moment of intimacy to settle in. Even in her shy state, happiness swarmed the girl, allowing her to close her eyes, tilt her head slightly and then reply.

"I'm glad, you like." Noticeably, she could not say much, or be very correct in sentencing.

It would have been a very weird and awkward situation if something popped up and indicated that the current state of affairs, them being in love, was exactly what the Dragonborn had planned from the very moment they met.

But such a thing did not occur. The Dovahkiin had not planned anything centuries in advance of them actually happening. He was dragon kin, not a time lord.

The two smiled at each other, but only until Hikari's eyes suddenly opened and her visage shifted to that of a pale state, catching the attention of the Nord as well.

"W-What is wrong?" She slowly pulled her hand back, her lover attempting to not let it flow out of his grasp as she turned her gaze down.

With an almost shamed voice, she spoke: "My... My caretaker. At the shrine of Kynareth in Whiterun... Must be worried sick about me right now." Tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

The Dovahkiin had completely forgot that she had her own place to live and people that cared about her, but at least he had an idea of what to say next.

"If you wish, I will take you to Whiterun." She lifted her head to gaze at him, sorrow still visible within her.

"I... I forgot about them. I indulged in adventuring and forgot... I'm such a terrible person..." There was no denying the fact that forgetting about others was extremely rude.

The Dragonborn hadn't commented on that, for, to tell the truth would mean to insult and say the opposite would mean to lie. Flattery was something he was utterly disgusted with.

He instead got up from his chair, circled the table around Hikari and drove his right hand behind her shoulders.

"It's alright." She meant to speak, but was interrupted. "You are safe. You are not injured in the slightest and that is what matters most." His face wore a smile.

Hikari's eyes dropped back down to her waists, causing her lover to slightly shake her from left to right and then hug her.

She became red at the prospect of feeling his skin on her own. That was due to the fact that he only wore a pair of trousers, his musculature being firmly visible as she was still only clothed in the bandage wrappings around her waists and chest.

In other words, they were almost naked.

 **PART THREE:**

"I'm not sure how I should put this on..."

"Here, let me help you."

The two were in the forge room, the entrance corridor with armored mannequins and weapon, the same place where the Dovahkiin had modified Hikari's armor and where she'd almost been raped. They were now in the process of her attempting to wear said armors.

Hikari had trouble placing the chest tunic on, requiring the Nord to help her with it. When it was done, Hikari thought she might crumble to the ground due to the sheer weight of the chest piece. It alone was heavier than all the parts of her previous armor set combined.

"This is heavy!" The girl cried out, her feet shaking under the weight.

The Dragonborn quickly grabbed the waist part of the armor, providing Hikari with extra strength so as to hold herself up.

"Perhaps I should enchant the armor to lower its weight. Or would you like me to enchant it to increase your strength?" Strength seemed better though.

Being really close to the Dovahkiin, Hikari had quick access to wrap her arms around her lover and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I never got to thank you for crafting me this armor and for saving me... Thank you..."

Tears had begun leaving her eyes once again, as she was reminded of what a good person the Dragonborn was. At least, to her.

"Anytime." He'd responded smiling.

Why had he crafted her armor when the possibility of her being a succubus existed? This was a question the Dragonborn did not have an answer to. He could only guess that he needed some way to filter out the stress and anxiety of the revelation and such, just hammered at the forge without much thought.

Hikari had lifted her head and wiped her tears away.

They began removing the piece of armor from the girl's chest and the Dovahkiin proceeded to place it back on the manikin. He was then asked:

"Do you not... Have a family of your own?" That question could have hinted at family as in parents or as in wife and children.

Frankly, Hikari wanted to know the answer to both.

"No." It was short, decisive, powerful. The Nord turned to look at the girl, who'd been left speechless at the sound of it. He continued: "No, I do not have any kind of family left."

Even terrified at the prospect of having hit a sensitive spot, Hikari still wanted to know more about her lover.

"Please... Tell me more about yourself." Oh? This was rather surprising to him, but he understood where she came from with such a question.

The Dragonborn cleared his throat before speaking: "I do not remember the face of my parents. I do not remember anything about them." This could also had been the doing of the accursed Gilligan. "My earliest memories begin when I was trapped in a plane of Oblivion, fighting for survival."

A plane of Oblivion?!

It immensely surprised and intrigued the girl at the same time. What did he mean a plane of Oblivion? Was he born there? Could he have been Daedra kind like...

Like her...

Hikari did not want to tell him that she felt she wasn't human. It could have forever broken their relationship and set them apart.

"For a few years, I was trapped in one such plane. It was only when I struck down the ruling Daedra there that I had gained freedom, and found myself transported to the land of Tamriel, in Skyrim."

The Dragonborn did not know how it was that he reached Mundus, but he did. His first step had been on the Throat of the World, High Hrothgar, where the old hermits dwell. "They raised me and taught me the way of the voice. In a way, they are my family."

He had been adventuring throughout Skyrim ever since, and when the Dragons returned, he was ready.

Hikari was somewhat surprised to hear of his past, or rather... The short version of it. She also felt an aching sensation within her chest due to hearing of a loved one's troubled foregoing.

"And you?" Now it was her turn.

"E-Me?"

"What's your story?"

"I... Never met my parents either. My earliest memories start in the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun. I was taken and raised by the head priestess since very little. I was a bit of a spoiled child, and I never got to learn healing magic properly." Perhaps that should not have been as big of a surprise as it was.

The only reason it left the Dragonborn thinking was because Daedra kind do not take well to light magic. Light magic was, by default, their complete opposite. To cast a healing spell on them had the same effect as throwing a fireball at an Argonian.

Yes, the Nord still suspected the girl.

"Since I could not be a healer, I set out of my own will and became an adventurer. In my first dungeon, I discovered the armor you reforged." The important question to be asked was 'Who put it there?'. The Dragonborn suspected Elianna or someone like her at least. "Several years later, you and I met. You know the story from there on."

"Yeah." He'd inhaled heavily and exhaled.

Hikari looked through the room. "Where is my weapon?"

"Reforged."

"W-Why?"

"Too unfit for combat. Plenty more advantageous weapons exist."

"But... That was! A gift from my mother..." Where she started her first sentence rather strongly, she finished weakly, turning gaze to look at the floor in sorrow.

He raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

But the girl shook her head. "I don't know... My caretaker said it's a gift from my mother, but I don't know much else." So the possibility still existed. Hikari could very well still be a succubus.

But did that mean that her mother was Daedra kind as well? The Dovahkiin had never heard of a succubus bearing children, he'd never thought it possible. The reason he was still thinking about all of that was because Hikari's armor was of Dremora origin. That was something he had confirmed as he was reforging it.

"Say, Hikari, which of these two armors do you like the most?" She turned around to look at them.

"I guess they're both nice."

"Glad to hear that."

"Umm... How did you make these... Fly?" She pointed at the levitating shoulder crosses.

"Oh, those? It is because the metal in them has magnetic properties towards the shoulder pads. They tend to push each other away, so I figured I'd use some magic of my own to have them keep a regular distance between themselves. They are like shoulder shields. A skilled warrior would put them to much good use."

"I-I'm a skilled warrior!" She'd said rather childishly and proudly.

"I don't doubt you. I've seen you fight, remember?"

"Right, but my fighting style devolved around the scythe..."

"Allow me to teach you another method to do battle, with a different weapon. One I think you will find much more fitting."

The Dragonborn proceeded to unearth a white great sword from behind the white armor he'd forged for the girl.

"Ah, right, it's quite heavy. You'll need to get stronger." An idea popped up into his mind. "Hey! How about I show you my laboratory?"

"Laboratory?"

 **PART FOUR:**

The Dragonborn had taken the great sword and led Hikari up the stairs from the forge room. They arrived in the Hall of Deities and then took a sharp left towards a pair of golden doors. Upon opening them, staircases leading up revealed themselves.

After climbing said stairs, the two reached the so called 'laboratory'.

Directly to the left of the stairs was a large golden orb of glass or something on top of the wall which separated the inside and outside. Hikari thought that orb was pleasant to look at. It was what provided light within those chambers.

To the right of the stairs was a stone board, housing an alchemy table and an enchantment table. In front of each of the two were potion racks and gem racks, pouches and chests containing many materials one would need in order to do both enchanting and alchemy.

Adjacent of the stone board, one could find a large shelf with many jars and boxes, containing even more crafting materials. It was quite impressive.

But what was truly stunning and what caught the girl's attention the most, was a big shiny tree in a small garden right past the archway behind the stone board. Hikari ran ahead of her friend to more closely examine said tree.

Many butterflies and shiny small life flied around the piece of wood, giving it a unique feeling. Myriad uncountable flowers laid springing from the ground below of many beautiful colors. Several benches came into view whilst looking at the tree. This was a fine place to sit down and read a book.

In the time that Hikari admired said piece of overgrown wood, the Dragonborn had placed the weapon on the enchantment table and grabbed a grand gem. He loathed himself each time he was there, for enchantment was something that was done with mortal souls. He was sacrificing one soul to give a weapon a much needed property.

If he had a choice, he would much rather not have done it. He felt that way when enchanting his dragon bone armor as well. But he understood it a complete necessity in order to defeat the world eater Alduin. He would soon have to go and kill him, wouldn't he?

"Hikari." She'd turned her head around. She was still wearing the bandage wrappings by the way. "Here."

The Dovahkiin had extended an arm to give the great sword to her. She took it up with no effort and brought it ahead of herself in a vertical position, looking up at it.

"Wow..."

"It's been enchanted to give its wielder strength." The Nord stepped back and allowed Hikari to give the weapon a few swings. Each attack was as simple as moving a feather through air.

"Woah... How'd you do this, even?"

"Enchantment." He pointed at the table without turning, yet the girl still showed signs of amazement at it as if what her lover had just done was something never before seen by mortal kind.

"Look there." He now pointed to the left, Hikari's right, at a statue of a praying lady. The statue had a small orb of purple above the lady's hands. "That is a teleportation system. Let me show you."

The two approached. He brought his right hand behind her back, on her right shoulder and with his other hand, touched the purple orb. They were then encased in a sphere of the same color, blocking away any sort of light for a small instance.

Then it happened.

"Here we are!" He'd declared happily as the girl discovered that they were now in the bathing room.

"Wo-Waw! That is fantastic!" She cried out in joy.

"Yes, I know!" He like it as well. Very much in fact. After her excitement died down, he reached for the weapon and took it. "Now, would you like to take a bath?"

"Y… Yes please." She was a little ashamed at the prospect of it all considering he was around, but felt like a bath would be nice.

The water was at a high temperature, perfect for relaxation.

"One moment. I should bring you some form of clothing." Hikari raised her hands at chest level, attempting to hide her wrappings in shame whilst blushing.

The Dovahkiin went past her to the closets in the bathing room and pulled open the wardrobe. Within it, one could find some much needed towels.

"Here is for after the bath. Now give me another moment." He left the bathing room and went into the living, where the fire pit and bedroom lay. He returned with some fine mattress: a black dress that would fit a young lady well.

It was a dress made with the highest quality silk, very expensive. Several lines of white adorned the vestment, positioned above the chest area and around the bottom half of the dress. When worn, its height reached from the floor up until Hikari's neck, clinging to the back of the head through two arms.

"If you are going to ask me where I have this from, know that I have acquired it and several others specifically for the day I would house a beautiful damsel such as you." He took hold of her chin with his right hand, Hikari blushing in response to his reason.

"Okay, okay, get out!" She was most embarrassed that moment and it made the Dragonborn smile at her for it. But he did not forget one absolutely morbid thought: he still didn't know if she was a succubus or not. The food was a very insignificant test of which no worthy result could be drawn.

The Dovahkiin moved out to grab the rest of Hikari's modified armor and enchant it all, much like he'd done to the great sword.

 **PART FIVE:**

Hikari gazed at the distance. She was now atop Deus Mons, the Dovahkiin's home. The area she was in was like a great circle of stone. In the middle stood a great fire pit, burning magical yellow flame which created a large barrier around the castle's roof, pushing the falling snow away and keeping the area warm.

In the far back, two doorways adorned with stone coverings lead inside the laboratory.

The reason Hikari would be out there in the first place was to test out her armor and weapon. She was fully dressed in the white set, its weight being manageable through various enchantments such as stamina boosts, strength boosts...

But most important of all, she would have a duel with the Dragonborn. The duel served two purposes: to teach her how to fight better and for her to show him that she can stand up to the Dovahkiin in terms of battle prowess. At least, that was what she thought.

Hikari turned around when she'd heard one doorway opening, gazing upon her lover in his staunch dragon plating. On his shoulders and back was a thick fur cape, to provide shielding from the breeze.

Not that there was any significant amount of cold there due to the fire.

"Are you ready?" He asked her, causing Hikari to draw her weapon.

"I am." She adopted a fighting stance while looking at the Dovahkiin grasp onto the hilt of the weapon he had sheathed on his back. He had not taken his weapon out, but adopted a battle stance as he were.

The situation was quite dire, one could have said. After having taken a bath, the Nord suddenly presented Hikari with her war gear and told her that they would hold a duel. She could not put the dress on for even a second.

And it was not a practice match either. It was a real duel.

He told her that she should strive to kill him, for he will do the same. When he said that, the girl was taken aback with thoughts of 'How could you?' and 'After I said that I love you!'.

He'd told her 'it was for her own good that she face a vastly superior foe in order to develop her fighting skills further'. In between the doorways leading to the rooftop was a stash of scrolls, pieces of paper that when activated, could heal major wounds one had suffered such as the loss of limbs.

After she complained about the duel, he told her one last thing: 'You cannot get anywhere in this world without first being able to protect that which is most important to you. Abandon your love of me and transcend into a true warrior!'.

The distance between the two was of five meters.

After she discarded her love for him, as he'd told her, Hikari thought back on when they first met a few days ago. At that time, she was a warrior unblemished by love. Almost as if she'd forgotten who she currently was, the girl gave into a 'darker' side of herself and allowed power to flow through her like a river.

She was the first to charge. Her speed was very impressive considering the extremely heavy armor she wore. Any normal person would not have been able to run like that, or at least not without the enchantments.

As she closed in, the Dragonborn tightened his grip on his weapon, thinking of only one thing: 'She is a succubus! You must kill her for the sake of humanity and all mortal life on Mundus!'.

Hikari was almost within striking range, when she noticed something that utterly terrified and petrified her: the Dovahkiin pulling his sword out, Dragonslayer!

It was a sword of enormous size and mass, so much so that it warranted a new type of classification: an ultra great sword. Just it being unsheathed and held in falling position allowed the girl a good look at the monstrous weapon. It was taller than the Dovahkiin himself and very thick!

And then it fell... Rock crumbled under its heavy blow, creating and sending a shock wave throughout the stone floor, causing Hikari's shaky feet to give in and fall on her hands.

The blow that Dragonslayer dealt was to the floor alone, but it was swung with such force and mass that it would have cut a person in half in one single swing.

Or two people at once. Or even five!

This was a weapon so mighty that, the first time it was ever used in battle, it slashed a dragon's head off in one single swing.

The Nord used his free hand to take a hold of the girl's chin, raising her head to look directly at his eyes.

"Are you waiting for me to swing again?"

She woke from her awe and got back up on her feet, taking distance from the Dovahkiin via a jump.

"Do not make me repeat myself. I want you to fight and kill!" He wanted her to kill him?!

It was a good thing she was wearing her mask, for the Dovahkiin could not see how pale the girl had turned. With the wielding hand, he lifted Dragonslayer off the ground and pointed it at the girl.

"The real fight begins." He leapt forward, panicking Hikari and making the girl switch her sword's position so as to block a forward thrust that never came.

The Dragonborn had lifted his sword with both hands vertically, hanging above his head, full intention on bringing it down upon Hikari. If he slayed her there, he really didn't mind. His mentality changed to that of battle and his eyes gazed upon that which he considered needed to die.

Not shaken to the core as much as the first time, the girl dodged to the right as she predicted that her armor, even though it was tough, could by no means spare her of all the damage Dragonslayer would do to her.

His hit landed on the stone floor.

In a swift motion, she turned her blade upon him in the form of a horizontal slash, this being a motion he fully perceived. The Dragonborn had lifted his right hand so as to not have it get caught in the blade's path, receiving the full blow into his chest plating, it successfully protecting him from a large portion of the damage dealt.

But not all of it. A minor quantity still broke through and pushed the Dovahkiin back due the strength enchantments of her equipment.

Due to the sheer stubbornness that being a warrior represented, the Nord slammed his right foot heavily on the ground, stopping the force which pushed him backwards.

He then rammed into Hikari with his shoulder, hitting the girl in the chest and making her stumble onto her butt. In full motion, the Dovahkiin brought up Dragonslayer, horizontally slashing right above the girl as she fell down. Since the hit was a miss, he rounded his weapon back up and intended to hit vertically.

'How... How could you do this?' As she sat down defeated, the girl still could not let go of her love for the man whom was about to end her. Hikari could not bring herself to strike at the Dragonborn, even if he was exposed one or two seconds while he brought the Dragonslayer up high.

She just could not...

The girl had closed her eyes, letting lose silent tears inside her helmet.

She prepared herself for the blow that never arrived. When the sound of the sword being placed on the floor rang in her ears, she opened her eyes.

The Dovahkiin stood crouched in front of her, his face wearing a visible smile. He then approached and hugged the girl who'd accepted her own death.

Hikari's terrified gaze shifted and followed the Nord.

"I'm sorry if I scared you. Please forgive me."


End file.
